You can't have too much data .... correct?
Actually, not correct.
The first rule of data:
- Don't ask for data if you don't know what you are going to do with it
- Don't ask for data which you can not use or act upon
The data plan
You may be shocked to learn that often there is no data plan!
My experience: In the PMO there are often too many incidents of reports, data accumulation, measurements, inquiries, etc. for which there actually is no plan for what to do with it.
- Sometimes, it just curiosity;
- Sometimes you're out of your lane and it's really none of your business to know
- Sometimes it's just blind compliance with a data regulation;
- Sometimes it's just to have a justification for an analyst job
- Sometimes it's a misguided idea that "there can't be too much data".
The tests:
- If someone says they need data, the first question is: "How does it add value to what you are doing, and do you have a plan to effectuate that value-add?"
- The second question is: "Do you have a notion of data limits: enough, but not too much to be statistically significant, and control limits for useful -- or not -- metrics."
And information?
Well, the usual definition is that information is data, perhaps multiple data, integrated with context and perhaps interpreted for the current situation.
So, the rule can be extended: if there are not means to process data into information, is the data necessary to be collected?
Bottom line: To state the obvious: always test for value-add before spending resources to collect, process, and disseminate data.
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