Shifting the Balance: How Top Organizations Beat the Competition by Combining Intuition with Data

Schrutt, strategic adviser at the market intelligence firm International Data Corporation, suggests in his rigorous debut that relying on gut instincts is not the wisest business strategy. Though data is increasingly available, he notes, just 30% of business decisions rely on it, leaving the remainder up to intuition. To prove that numbers deserve their fair play, Schrutt chronicles advances in data use, including by credit agencies, airlines, and hotel chains, and cites such businesses as Proctor and Gamble, which uses weather data to determine the best areas for anti-frizz hair products, and the Boston Red Sox, who “have shown that combining analytics with the human factor increases the success on the field by 10 percent to 15 percent.” On the advice front, he urges business leaders to evolve their decision-making culture slowly and recruit management from such data-heavy sectors as government and finance. Schrutt tends to conflate a disinclination to rely on data with poor decisions, and readers will likely wonder if a careful analysis of data, for instance, would have rescued Blockbuster, Kodak, or Sears. Still, he proves the merits of combining analytics with human intelligence. This lands as an illuminating dive into the global datasphere. (Apr.)