Tired of the Numbers Game?
Sometimes I feel like I’m drowning under a daily deluge of digits. The sheer quantity of analytics, metrics and poll results that jump out at me daily from blog posts and newsletters makes my head spin.
We seem to be caught up in this world where everything is examined under a microscope and labeled with a number or score.
I feel that we are so inundated with metrics, stats and scores that we lose sight of the essence of what we’re measuring.
It makes me think of the story of the elephant and the blind men; each person defining the whole by their own limited perception.
Today I came across across a post on Advisor.ca that said that small businesses aren’t jumping on the social media wagon.
It referred to a recent study by BMO Bank of Montreal that reported that:
29% of Canadian businesses don’t think social media is a valuable tool
19% admit they lack the skill and knowledge to implement social media strategies survey
A report done a year earlier by Léger Marketing stated that 90% of business organizations are using social media.
So if 90% are using social media, where are those 29% that think it’s stupid?
Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable.
So what does this prove…?
(Sometimes, I miss P.M. Chrétien.)
…That numbers are a point of reference, not the final word.
I know there is a need for companies to adopt social media. My challenge as a consultant is to help companies understand it – one client at a time.
The truth is, there are many companies that are poorly managed; that give little thought to client service. They’ll never get social media and certainly will never get “social”.
While I think that’s sad, I want to focus on the number of companies that value their clients and want to strengthen their communities.
Those are numbers that I can really get excited about.
How much value do you place on statistics and scores?
