5 Pitfalls of Data: Why You Should Bet on Intuition While Strategizing
Worse than building a strategy solely on data can only be crafting one while ignoring data.
In 2020, John Donahoe, then Nike’s CEO, declared ‘data-driven marketing’ a bedrock of his strategy. In 2024, Donahoe was ousted because the strategy failed in epic fashion.
Data can’t lie but can mislead.
From ancient Greek philosophers onward, thinkers have relied on rational, data-based thinking.
René Descartes took this idea to the extreme by saying: "Cogito, ergo sum" — "I think, therefore I am."
Some LinkedIn theorists proclaim that we should base our strategies on ‘solid data.’ However, what seems logical in a university classroom often has nothing to do with real life.
You can’t think clearly without data. But it can only take you so far.
Pitfall 1: There are no ‘facts’ in marketing
In Akira Kurosawa's movie Rashomon, four characters testify in court. They all witnessed the same crime, but each saw it so differently that their stories barely align.
What we call ‘fact…