Data Escape Room Blog

Author: Phil Greenwood                                                                      

1,200 words / 6-minute read

Data-informed decision making is often seen as the holy grail of an effective data culture, but what does this really look like?

At The Data Escape Room, we have a unique opportunity to observe and guide managers and leaders as they use data to inform the decisions and choices they make when they take part in our learning exercises. We have recently hit the threshold of 2,000 learners who have taken part – that’s over 6,000 hours of observation and comparisons about what works well, and less well, with data-informed decisions.

Our team of facilitators has distilled this experience into 6 lessons that everyone can apply to improve the way data is used to support decision making. Below are three recommendations to start doing, and three to stop if you want to be more effective.

You’ll note that none of these require any technical capability or complex solutions – they’re focused on a set of behaviours that are open-minded, collaborative and realistic. If we don’t display these then no manner of analytical or AI solutions is going to achieve great results!

Some context.

The Data Escape Room offers experiential learning exercises to develop confidence and commitment for staff when working with data. The gamified learning is done in small groups who need to gather and interpret various data to solve problems and make decisions as they try to complete their escape room challenge. A range of concepts are introduced, using a learn-by-doing approach that is proven to aid retention and application of knowledge and skills.

Some of the data in the exercise gives reasonably clear and obvious conclusions, but just like in real life, other data is more complex or subtle, whilst some may be incorrect or misleading. Players learn how to assess and respond to data in different situations, and are encouraged to actively discuss how the data influences their understanding and decision making. Through this, we’ve seen all manner of mistakes, assumptions, corrections, challenges, aha moments and a healthy level of excellent data interpretation and reasoning. The lessons below summarize the most frequent and valuable observations.

Lesson 1 (Start) – Talk through your reasoning.

We regularly see wildly different interpretations of the same data, as individuals apply their own shortcuts, assumptions or biases to reach their conclusions. Explaining the reasoning behind your response with a group of colleagues is excellent for identifying alternative suggestions, promoting constructive challenge, and ultimately gaining support for balanced and reasonable choices.

Many learners admit that most of the data they receive in their role is reviewed in isolation, where views are solidified without discussion or challenge, resulting in potential friction or dismissal of alternative perspectives. Make time to discuss data meaning as a collective, and where practical, avoid letting organisation hierarchy dictate the responses.

Lesson 2 (Start) – Be Explicit about ‘Gut’ vs ‘Data’

It’s rare that data offers a perfect answer for a particular decision, and balancing data insights and recommendations with experience, judgement and gut feel is an important skill.

We may need to follow our gut if the data is insufficient or unsuitable, or there is a lack of confidence in associated conclusions. Players in The Data Escape Room will experience these situations, and we encourage them to consciously recognise when decisions that are made in this way. Recording decisions that are based primarily on gut feel can identify valuable patterns about who, why or when these approaches are taken, and spot gaps where additional insights could be produced to improve future decision making.

Lesson 3 (Start) – Admit when you don’t understand.

We’ve had some very senior leaders from globally recognised organisations take part in The Data Escape Room, and hearing the phrase “I’ve got no idea what that chart means” always brings an inner smile to our instructors. It’s incredibly powerful when a colleague or leader admits when data isn’t clear, and it builds the psychological safety for others to do the same. There’s no point having a group of people sitting around a table nodding at the data when they don’t know what it means.

There are many causes for a lack of understanding (and to be clear, stupidity is rarely one of them!), so building a culture where it’s encouraged to query and challenge data outputs will drive data outputs that provide genuine value.

Lesson 4 (Stop) – Setting a false schedule.

Like most Escape Rooms, ours has a countdown timer that is used to keep the group moving and retain focus. It’s not a race though and there aren’t any prizes for finishing in the fastest time. We see a direct correlation between the seniority of participants and the desire to rush through at pace, which often aligns with their lived experience of meetings with crammed agendas and pressurised decisions.

Slowing things down just a little can help massively, and we’re talking minutes here, not hours. A group who take 5 minutes to discuss and check the results will be more effective than those who skip past the detail in 60 seconds so they can hurry onto the next item. We’ve seen leadership teams change their whole approach and schedule for management and governance meetings after this experience.

Lesson 5 (Stop) – Ignoring nuance and complexity

In some circumstances, data can inform choices that are clear and obvious. If we expect this to be the norm though we’re likely to be disappointed, and often the true value comes from identifying subtle patterns or associations, potentially in specific situations. We frequently see players in The Data Escape Room display simplicity bias, discounting results that require more cognitive effort. These conditions are deliberately built into our games, allowing our instructors to highlight missed opportunities as an important learning point, giving this context and relevance.

Whilst we shouldn’t expect leaders and decision makers to be data scientists or statisticians, there is sometimes an expectation to ‘dumb down’ the results to support understanding, which risks losing the value. Frame any nuance and complexity as “understanding the detail of the organisation or wider environment”, rather than making it a data issue.

Lesson 6 (Stop) – Waiting until there’s a problem

Urgent questions often arise when something goes wrong. Why did it happen? How bad is it? What fix will work?  Does it need a crisis response though to unlock the necessary resources and focus to capture, process and analyse data?

The Data Escape Room helps learners to recognise why data can be just as valuable in steady state conditions to identify opportunities and give equal focus to understanding why things go well in addition to why they go wrong. This promotes a culture of curiosity and continuous improvement, where data is recognised as a vital asset to promote growth and innovation.

Next Steps

Many of these lessons may seem like common sense, but we’ve seen how frequently they can be forgotten or overlooked, so hopefully these suggestions can act as either a catalyst or a refresher to help you think differently about how you use data.

The Data Escape Room shines a light on these and other data behaviours in a way that is powerful and effective for learners, using a unique blend of gamification, data and behavioural expertise. We’d be delighted to explore how we can support you to build data confidence and capability across your organisation.