Numbers alone don’t persuade. Stories do. Combining data with analysis is just the start for business intelligence systems, with the real magic emerging from the ability of those using the data to weave an enticing message.
Nobody knows that more than Alastair Otter, a former ITWeb technology editor who founded and now runs The Outlier. Otter has an almost unique insight into the relationship between data, information and storytelling – because The Outlier is an outfit specialising in telling the tales of Africa through data.
“Stories resonate with people more than dry data,” Otter says. “Stories also make data insights more memorable to viewers and readers.”
Noting that most data analysis (certainly in or for the boardroom) is done to catalyse change or help decision-making, Otter points to a disconnect between data analysts and business leaders. “Analysts tend to talk in data and charts, while business leaders focus on business outcomes and actions. Data storytelling bridges this gap because it makes data more meaningful in a business context and therefore more understandable.”
There’s also a far simpler rationale at play (though one Otter doesn’t agree with, but he is a numbers man). Most people simply find raw numbers boring or unpalatable. Or, even, impenetrable. After all, evolutionarily speaking, we weren’t necessarily geared for calculus or endless columns of digits.
By contrast, the human ability to tell stories is an evolutionary oddity which, according to author Yuval Noah Harari, is so powerful it gave our species the ability to conquer the world.
While we aren’t suggesting global domination through BI, this nevertheless provides some context as to why combining data analysis with storytelling becomes such a potent value proposition.
Otter confirms this viewpoint. “Storytelling is rooted in human culture, so telling a story based on or backed up by data is easier to communicate and remember,” he says.
So, when business leaders are overwhelmed by dashboards and data metrics lacking a coherent narrative, insights are easily missed or forgotten. “A good data story also provides direction to the insights. Where most businesses feel they need a dashboard, all that gives them is data points, leaving the user to find the insights themselves,” Otter adds.
The catch? “They often won't.”
When that’s the case, all that investment in ETL, data lakes, data warehouses, fancy analytics, you name it… well, it’s failed.
In a vulgar adaptation of quis custodiet ipsos custodes – who will watch the watchers – the big question to be asked is, who will tell the stories? After all, while storytelling is part of our DNA, it has proven selective in where that particular strand vested itself.
While Otter doesn’t discuss the considerable success of his own operation, The Outlier has, through its very existence, at least part of the answer. Storytelling isn’t easy and is made more difficult still by the skills required to understand, interpret, contextualise and deliver data. It is also a viscerally human activity.
And one, therefore, which may well prove the secret sauce for the best BI recipes.
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