It's surprisingly rare to make decisions based on hard data. It's partly because data can be hard to find and partly because we don't do the work to get the facts straight.

Sometimes feelings and data need to act in tandem. Like hiring, where you gather the hard facts about a candidate and supplement them with your instinct and intuition.

Many times, though, myself and my team have disregarded the search for data and have instead relied on "I think" or "I feel" alone. The longer you do something, the easier it is to get away with this approach. But I can't help but think how much better off we all would be if we consistently challenged our assumptions and biases with what the data is actually saying.