I work with a lot of people who want to become the best versions of themselves.
Many of them look for whatever edge they can get to reach their Peak Performance.
Often, this leads to Data Tracking of some sort.
Whether it is tracking Profits and Costs, HRV, or Nutrition (among other things), we have a tendency, as Humans, to look to the Numbers.
For good Reason!
Data can allow us to see Trends, get more Accurate Information, and quickly see when things are Strange or Going Poorly.
However, there is a Dark Side that comes with Data.
For some people, the Data ends up becoming a Barrier to their Success.
So, how can you determine if Data is Benefitting You, or becoming a Detriment to Your Results?
The first thing that you have to ask is if the Data is causing You (or those you Lead) to have Compulsive Behavior.
For some people, their response to seeing certain types of Data is that they begin to shape "Everything" around getting Specific Results around that Data.
Now, it's not bad to have Goals when it comes to Data, but when things become Compulsive, it becomes Problematic.
For Instance, say you make a decision to make 100 Sales Calls Per Day.
"Number of Calls Made" is a Data Point that can Easily be Tracked.
It works really well for a few months, but then you start to have some challenges.
You first find that some calls are taking longer than they used to.
This pushes you to come to work earlier and leave later to ensure you get the 100 Calls.
This then makes it so you go from 8 hours of Sleep per Night, down to 6 Hours, and your body Does "Not" Love It.
Your Performance starts to Drop because you're not getting enough Sleep, and your Results Deteriorate (Fewer Sales), but you continue to do this anyways to Compulsively Hit 100 Calls.
This may not sound like a big deal, but similar situations play out "Very" Frequently in the World of Business.
Another Problem that can occur with Data is that some people find that the Data becomes Dis-Stressful as they constantly Monitor it.
I have watched this happen with someone I was working with who used a Device that Measured Daily "Readiness".
Basically, it tells you how Prepared you are to Handle Stressors for the Day.
Now, there are Zones of Readiness, indicated by Red, Yellow, and Green.
If you look at this Correctly, "Red" is not inherently a "Bad" thing, and it just means you should take things Easier that day and Focus on Recovery.
But there are people, like the person I was working with, who see "Red" and it will Ruin their entire Day.
The person I was working with would Ruminate on how "Horrible" the Red was, and even though the Score did "Not" Change, they would constantly look at the Score throughout the day which only made the Feelings Worse.
They would check the device multiple times per hour, despite knowing that the numbers would not change.
Coincidentally, that would feed into the Next Day, creating a Suboptimal Score (Due to High Dis-Stress the day before, continually Seeing and Ruminating on the "Red" score), feeding back into the Rumination.
It became a Cycle where the Data was making the Problem Worse instead of Better.
This is another situation where the Data can become a Barrier to Success.
Overfocusing on the Problems with Data, and allowing it to become Major Dis-Stress is not Helpful to Success, and you may want a different strategy if you find yourself here.
Finally, the Data can become Problematic when the Data is Separated from Other Important Factors.
We see this in Business Frequently around Profit and Productivity.
For many Leaders, they See Low Profit, and it triggers a Survival Response.
The first area many Leaders look to is Productivity, which has been Low for most Organizations.
They Immediately think, "If Productivity is Low, then we must Increase Productivity! This will increase Profit!"
However, this is an Understanding that is taken "Completely" out of Context of today's Business Environment.
Why are "Both" Productivity and Profit Low for Most Organizations?
Now, why does the Data become Problematic Here?
Well, the "Solution" to Low Productivity, taken outside the Context of Burnout, is to "Increase" Workload.
However, "Within" the Context of Burnout, if you Increase Workload you end up Exacerbating the Problem of Burnout.
By looking at the Data, without Key Context, you end up Further Decreasing Productivity and Further Decreasing Profits, while "Also" Simultaneously Increasing Costs (due to More Workhours).
This is one of the Major Reasons Why Leaders have been making "Extremely" Poor Decisions since 2020.
They have been looking at Data and Making Decisions without the Context of Human Psychophysiology.
This makes those Data Points "Useless" for Solutions, and as we have seen, has led to Decisions that Create More Problems for Leaders which drives Organizations Further Away from Success.
Now, I am Not Anti-Data.
I use several devices and programs to track different types of Data and I encourage Clients to use Data to Improve their Businesses, Teams, and Lives.
Data is Not Inherently Bad, and when used Correctly is Incredibly Beneficial.
But when Data turns to the Dark Side, it quickly becomes a Barrier to Success, often making our Lives Significantly Worse.
If we are going to have Success, we must use Data in ways to Benefit our Goals, while being Wary of the Potential Harms that Data can Create.