Our reactions to the data we receive can cause a great deal of suffering. For example, there was a hospital with an outstanding reputation for being trusted at a deep level by many families. They used data to alert people about various medical actions that they recommended. One such alert was that when a person turned eighteen, they sent out notices to that person recommending they find their own primary care physician.
One letter that was sent out with this recommendation reached a family where the eighteen year old had died at that same hospital two years earlier! The family receiving the letter was intimately involved with the hospital and they were so distraught to receive such a letter at a time when they were still grieving. It turned out that there were many data quality issues regarding peoples’ date of death that resulted in many other disturbances in numerous families.
There are many other situations where incorrect data can actually lead to bad health outcomes, including death. Examples of these include mistakes regarding drug allergies, drug interactions, or other mistakes in medical information.
Data can be used for many types of nefarious activities. For instance, an article in Wired described how a website stored video data regarding child sex abuse acts and how they used this data in threatening, destructive ways leading to all sorts of suffering including suicide attempts.[i] We are often bombarded with social media data (both factual and misinformation) that are designed to hold our attention through emotional disturbances such as fear. These are generally intended to elicit reactions or control behavior regarding many matters including purchasing, voting, mindshare, or almost any other matter.
Have you suffered with data? How?
Data is the plural form of the Latin word, ‘datum’, which Merriam Webster defines as ‘something given or admitted as a basis for reasoning or inference’. Thus, everything we receive through our senses could be considered data. It could be numbers, text, things we see, hear, or feel. But how could all data be suffering? What about positive data that communicates increased sales, better health, positive comments, data showing helpful contributions, and so on? Data could be factual or not, and yet, either way, our reaction to it can lead to suffering.
This article will discuss how our reactions to any data can lead to suffering, whether the data is considered good or bad, viewed as positive or negative data, or is factual versus misinformation. To allow us to recognize root causes of data suffering and then provide ways to alleviate it, I would like to share 8 principles that can help:
- Attachment is a root cause of suffering
- ‘Not knowing’ has unlimited possibilities
- Always being ‘right’ is wrong
- Acceptance is healthy
- Be present
- Don’t rely on judgements
- Set appropriate expectations
- Nothing is either good or bad
This column will address the first three principles and as a follow up in TDAN.com, we will look into the remaining principles.
Attachment is a Root Cause of Suffering
Many ancient philosophies such as Buddhism, Stoicism and Cynicism, proclaim that the root cause of suffering is attachment. If we are attached and either crave or are averse to anything, this leads to suffering.
Likewise, if we are attached to any data, whether it seems positive or negative, this can also lead to suffering. For instance, if we receive data showing poor sales results, this may lead to disappointment and suffering. However, if we receive data regarding what we think is very positive data such as increased sales numbers, this can also lead to suffering since things change over time. Thus, when sales increase, we may be happy to receive this information. Yet, this sets our expectations higher and when the number decreases in the future, or the higher number leads to something we don’t want, then we can suffer again. I had a friend who was so excited because he was the highest producing sales agent for a quarter. Then he found out that, as a result of his excellent performance, his quota doubled for the following quarter. Thus, in order to receive the same commission as he just had made, he would need to he make twice the amount of sales. After that, he was quite upset.
I have found myself attached to design ideas on many data management efforts. As a consultant on a particular data warehouse project, I reviewed the architecture and advised my client to revise it to the more flexible and stable structure that I recommended. My client said, “But Len, everyone is bought into this design and architecture. Buy-in is more important than how well designed it is.” I was attached to my ideas. I was frustrated and I suffered. I decided to let go and go along with the team’s architecture and design. In the end, the project was extremely successful.
As human beings, much of life is spent with the thoughts, “I really want this” and “I really don’t want that.” It’s ok to want things and to not want other things. However, when this becomes so intense, we invite suffering. By letting go of the intense deep need or attachment to things happening the way we want, we can alleviate suffering.
‘Not Knowing’ Has Unlimited Possibilities
‘The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing’ -Socrates
We often want to ‘know’ things with certainty. We want to know the correct data, the appropriate actions, and how things will turn out.
Yet, in reality, we often just don’t know. For instance, we see data about all aspects of life, and it is often difficult to ascertain what data is truthful. This includes data about people, organizations, politics, family, environment, COVID, and so many other areas. We see data being published that often contradicts other data being published. For instance, there may be data published about how the state of our world environment and other data contradicting it. In our data world, we may be evaluating various data designs, assessing the pros and cons, and making a decision. Sometimes, we may feel that we know what’s best, however, if we are always ‘knowing’ things with certainty, it has a rigid and limiting effect. If we can stay open to the idea that we may not always know for sure, then this can lead to many more possibilities. If we chose a data design, but then a better alternative has evolved, and we remain open to the possibility that we didn’t know it for sure, then we can move with agility towards better outcomes. Thus, we can alleviate the suffering of getting stuck in an ‘I am sure I know’ mindset.
On one data management effort, I interviewed a high level executive regarding his data requirements. At the end of the interview after he had been very uncooperative, he said, “Len, you asked me all the wrong questions!’ and he then left in a huff. The data management team asked me what I was going to do. I said, “I don’t know. For now, I’m just going to let it be and see what happens.” At the end of the day, he came back, said what a terrible day it was for him, and apologized. We conducted the interview again and he became one of our greatest sponsors and advocates.
Always Being Right’ is Wrong
When we almost always feel that we know what is ‘right’, it can lead to separation and making others wrong. This can lead to disfunction and suffering.
A long time ago, I was hired as a consultant to be in charge of a data modeling effort. There were four expert data modelers on my team. Regarding how to model one common type of reusable pattern that would be used within many data models, I asked them each to provide their recommended solution. They each presented completely different models and I thought each model was excellent. I told them that each solution was worthy of an ‘A’ grade. However, in order to have consistency across all the data models, I picked one of the solutions. One of the data modelers whose solution was not picked was adamant that his solution was the ‘right’ solution. His opinion was that we picked the ‘wrong’ pattern, and he sent many disparaging communications throughout the organization. This lead to a lot of discord, wasted time, and suffering.
Perhaps it is often wise not to overestimate how ‘right’ we are. Some research indicates that people who feel that they are almost always ‘right’ about most matters, are often not the most adept or skilled in that field. For example, research on the Dunning-Kruger effect has shown that people who have less knowledge and skills will often overestimate their own competence and ‘rightness’. [ii]
Conclusion
Anything received, in other words, any type of data, can lead to suffering. The 3 principles outlined in this article can help reduce this suffering, namely:
- Attachment is a root cause of suffering
- ‘Not knowing’ has unlimited possibilities
- Always being ‘right’ is wrong
You may notice that there could be two sides to each principle referenced in this article, and therefore, we can argue the opposite of each principle. For example, we could claim that it is often appropriate to ‘be attached’ (i.e., to your children), to ‘know’ (i.e., to convey confidence when we understand something deeply), or to ‘be right’ (i.e., when a correct answer is important.) Yet, since we tend to under-utilize the suggestions offered in this article, if we can practice these principles more often, we can reduce suffering in our data world and in our life.
Stay tuned for next quarter’s article in TDAN.com where I will address other principles such as:
- Acceptance is healthy
- Be present
- Don’t rely on judgements
- Set appropriate expectations
- Nothing is either good or bad
Note: I am grateful to Karen Lopez from Infoadvisors, Inc. for helping to contribute to the principles outlines in this article series. Karen and I will be conducting a 1 day seminar on this topic with in-depth materials and exercises at the DGIQ conference on June 9th, 2022 so if you are further interested in this, please see this link.
[i] https://www.wired.com/story/tracers-in-the-dark-welcome-to-video-crypto-anonymity-myth/
[ii] https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/dunning-kruger-effect
