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Already, a growing number of firms are betting that more and better use of data can give them a tangible competitive boost in the here and now: more detailed knowledge, and better analysis - of customers, employees and the business environment - have the potential to reduce risk and uncertainty and radically improve decision-making. In an information age, competitive edge will surely accrue to those firms which use information best. Won’t it?
We shouldn’t assume so. Managers are wrong to put their faith in any such certainty, argue Jonas Ridderstrale and Julian Birkinshaw in their new book, Fast/Forward. The title sums up a deceptively simple theme: in a fast-changing world, mountains of data and super-detailed analytics can get us only so far. Indeed, they carry risks of their own. Ridderstrale and Birkinshaw observe that many companies are more comfortable analysing and debating than acting decisively and intuitively. The default assumption that more and better information is always better actually cramps companies’ ability to move fast. To navigate the future, the ability to act with decision and purpose will trump big data. Priorities need to be reversed.
Via David Hain
