As we continue to expand our capabilities of collecting and analysing more and more data about various aspects of our business, at micro level, we seem to be going nowhere. Predictions about monsoon, GDP, inflation, and many complex issues continue to falter.

Another aspect is the divergence of views of different experts on the same phenomena. Forecast by different so-called experts / expert agencies on each issue is different. Leave aside the forecast, experts don’t seem to agree about interpretation of the events that have already taken place. Part of this may be politically motivated, but genuine differences about interpretation of the same data by experts is a reality.

Data crunching and statistics play a big role in making sense of terabytes of data. Edward Deming, the Quality guru insisted that organizations must train everyone in statistics and data interpretation. That was in the context of Quality management.

It appears that the same advice is valid today for the entire spectrum of business management.