What data are you listening to?
That might be a more important question than what the data says.
In my recent conversation with decision-making consultant and behavioral scientist Brooke Struck, we dug into what it really means to make good decisions, individually, as leaders, as teams, as organizations, as societies.
One topic we paused on:
What does it actually mean to make evidence-based decisions?
Brooke’s take: everything is evidence-based.
Your feelings? Data.
Your gut instinct? Also data.
In fact, most human decisions, according to science, are made through emotion first, then justified with logic afterward.
So the better question isn’t "Is this backed by data?"
It's: "Which data did you decide to listen to?"
Let’s say you decide to diet, and then fail.
It’s not because you don’t know what’s healthy.
It’s because in the moment, based on your physical, mental, and emotional state, the tradeoff felt worth doing something else.
Short-term desire beat long-term intention.
Same with exercise.
In the moment? It spikes cortisol, blood pressure, and inflammation.
Unpleasant, stressful, unhealthy, one might even say!
Long-term? It helps you live longer, think clearer, feel better, it lowers your stress from life.
Which data are you listening to when taking action?
Innovation?
In the middle of it, it's a hot mess!
Confusion, wasted time, lots of effort with no progress, no visible ROI.
And yet, that’s exactly how great companies stay in the game.
That’s how they win the game.
Tough conversations?
With a spouse, a friend, a team member.
They feel like threats to the fragile peace you’ve got left.
But not having them?
That’s how relationships slowly die.
“So evidence is an interesting thing in this, right? Because a lot of people will say, well, we should pivot because of this data point. And unless you peel back the layers and look at how that decision was made, that can look like a very rational decision-making process on the surface. Oh, this person is making a decision based on a data point. The challenge is that there's so much evidence out there. Once you’ve reached a conclusion, it’s not difficult to find data that supports it.”
— Brooke Struck
That’s the paradox of modern decision-making:
There’s always a data point to justify any decision.
So the real skill?
Choosing in advance which kinds of evidence you’ll listen to when taking action.
Which metrics matter.
Which feelings deserve your attention.
Which outcomes you’re optimizing for.
Because if you don’t choose consciously, you’ll end up chasing the data that matches your doubts, fears, or bias.
What decision are you facing right now?
And which data will you decide to listen to?
PS Figuring out a life turn on your journey, change of career path midage, it's not supposed to look straight, planned and clear - it's supposed to look like fog, mess and no meaning. But is this the data that will define long-term fulfillment? 🎧 Our full conversation with Brooke is on Change Wired podcast.