The term “big data” means different things to different people. Some of my clients have teams of people dedicated to analyzing it and some of my friends sit in fascination (usually with a coffee and other friends) wondering where it is all going. While big data on its own sounds rather intimidating, anyone who spends any time on the internet is participating in it. Billions of us can be called – if I may – big data developers. So who are the humans behind the big data and why is the human story not a larger focus on the study of big data itself?
This is a question I have put forth to many over the last two years, a time frame that researchers say has produced ninety percent of the world’s data alone – and growing. Bigger. My feelings – ideas I have shared with financial clients in particular– is that we need to start analyzing stories in the same way that we analyze big data. Big data is a story. Something human happened to create that data. Or, as I prefer to say, there is a narrative behind the numbers. Why aren’t story teams (hopefully that team exists at your firm) working with data teams to shape this big data story into accessible analysis that can lead to smarter, more accurately measured decision-making – in a world where the stakes on better decision-making are being raised ever higher?
This week my Aeon digital subscription landed and, as always. it was filled with insightful, inspiring things to read and ponder. One story immediately jumped out (nearly spilling my coffee): “Big Data is People,” the title roared, an excellent piece by Rebecca Lemov, author and associate professor of the history of science at Harvard (https://aeon.co/essays/why-big-data-is-actually-small-personal-and-very-human). As Lemov states, “We need to see the human in the data machine.” Using historical perspectives and her own significant research in the field (including a recent book), we are presented with passages like this:
“A recent White House report on ‘big data’ concluded: ‘The technological trajectory, however, is clear: more and more data will be generated about individuals and will persist under the control of others.’ When trying to understand the ramifications of this big-data trajectory, I argue, it is necessary again to bear in mind that the data is not only generated about individuals but also made out of individuals. It is human data.”
Made out of individuals. This strikes right at the heart of my strategic storytelling work: helping my clients find the human perspective. If we don’t get to the human level, delivering compelling, factually relevant data is, in my opinion, incomplete. Decision-making is always driven by human understanding. Every story – whether fact, fiction or something in between – is entirely based on the motivations of humans. Access to that helps us decide if we want to follow the story. What decisions had to be made to reach that conclusion, that story ending? Our curiosity rises according to what we can relate to. We need that human data to keep us participating (listening, learning, emotionally connecting…buying, investing…). Put another way, statistics do much better when served up with stories.
Next time you sit down for coffee to discuss big data with colleagues or friends, think about what it means to you individually. There is a story there. You and big data have a lot more in common than you think. Quoting Lemov, “Big data is people.” Now let’s see what the two of us can create, several billion others will join in … whether we’re ready or not.