Comfort Data

My watch tells me how many steps I’ve taken and energy expended.

My vacuum analyses the various particles it has collected.

My phone tells me how many minutes and hours I have focused for.

My car tells me how efficient it has been and that it ready for service.

My washing machine keeps me informed of how many washes until I need to replace the detergent.

And that is just the tip of the iceberg of the data coming at us each and every minute, hour and day. We are bombarded with information and feedback. I admit, I find it interesting to take it all in. I also wonder is it all as necessary and useful as we might have come to believe.

I talk to people every day who are bombarded with mountains of data in their workplace. Feedback and information comes at them every minute, hour, day, month, year. System performance. Project performance. Team performance. Human performance. And, on it goes until we feel overwhelmed and weighed down.

Again, it has me wondering how much of this interesting information is necessary and useful. When it all gets too much, we’ll start to ignore it … just as I know I do after a while with much of the data from my car, washing machine and watch 😉

It reminds me of the saying, just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.

One of the biggest roles this data and information serves is related to comfort. It provides us with comfort and reassurance that things are okay, that we’re on track, making progress, and that we can avoid any undesirable outcomes.

Rationally, we know there are no guarantees regardless of the data. Emotionally, the data provides comfort.

Our comfort points will vary and it is incumbent upon us to always be asking:

what,

how and how much,

when, and

why

this data is useful to me,

and

how will it provide comfort and benefit to my

project,

team,

goal,

change,

myself, and

life?

The right amount of data and feedback is like comfort food, don’t you agree?

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