People in orbit and skeleton counts
Last week, a new record was set for the number of people in the Earth's orbit at one time: 19.
What's special about 19? Not much. Is knowing that 19 people are currently in space any more important or useful than when your child learns that the Stegosaurus had 19 plates on its back? No.
Not all data is equal. That's obvious. What's harder to distinguish is the difference between data that's useful and data that is a 'fun fact'.
Is the number of plates on a Stegosaurus less 'important' than the number of people in space right now? Probably not. Both of these data points are 'fun facts'.
I describe a 'fun fact' as a data point we can't do anything with, but it seems like it should be useful. Fun facts are great for conversations with friends. "Hey, did you know ... ?"
The problem is that fun facts end up in the business world, and people spend their time discussing fun facts as though they have some 'meaning'.
Why do we spend so much time on fun facts? Because they're easy. Finding something meaningful is hard. Measuring this correctly adds additional complexity. Knowing what to look for over time is now a serious intellectual exercise. We haven't even started on the assumptions of statistical tests.
I could cite statistics about the percentage of adults with obesity, which you'll never remember, or I could tell you that the average number of skeletons in the human body is greater than one. The average number of hands people have is less than two. You'll remember those. They're fun facts. Could either of these be used to improve health outcomes? No.
Your culture survey results are an example of where we think we're discussing something useful, but it's just a 'fun fact'. If these were useful, you would have done something with them by now. Instead, you poke, prod and wonder; no wonder you achieve nothing useful. Try a hypothesis instead.
Why is this hard to implement?
The problem with fun facts is that they're fun. Their very nature makes them engaging and interesting. Fun facts are the cakes and muffins of the conference food offering. Hypotheses are the grilled chicken salads.
We both know that if a group attends a training session and you offer muffins and grilled chicken salads, the muffins will be eaten first. Behavioural science states that we need to make the muffins harder to pick; we obscure them or add an extra step to the process. Or we don't put them out. Over time, with enough subtle guidance, people will make healthier choices without realising.
Can you remove fun facts in a business context? Yes, but it's hard. You're going to need to call this out, and it's going to be awkward. You could be like me - state the obvious and accept that people don't always like you for it.
I have the luxury of expertise to make my case, and I'm not relying on people in the organisation to do me favours. Those in full-time PAYG roles might need to tread more carefully.
Another approach I prefer is to place the responsibility on the person to justify why the fun fact is worth discussing. You don't need to be a jerk about this, but as you've seen, I can be. The sort of questions you could ask would be:
Do you expect this value to increase? By what percentage or quantum? How would this increase change what we do?
Knowing this information, how does it change what we do today? Do we need to change how we operate as a business?
If you're in the space business, there's not much to glean from having 19 people in orbit (unless you're trying to get them back to Earth).
Let's say you work for a company that conducts blood tests. Use the above questions when I tell you about the average number of skeletons or hands. The questions elicit that there's nothing useful. Bring up the increasing rate of obesity, and now we're looking at the design of clinics (wider doors), training of staff (more fat makes it harder to find veins) and possibly more work due to metabolic health problems associated with obesity. That's before we get to location of clinics based on geography.
There's a lot of opportunity and risk in the change we see in society. Someone is going to make money. You could use data to increase your odds of success. You could also use data to decrease your risk of obesity.
Fun facts have a place in business; they're for the conversation over lunch. Keep them there.