In times of extraordinary change, how should businesses navigate and interpret the massive quantities of data coming their way? My team of strategic planners, analysts, and insights specialists spend all day every day interpreting numbers. But what happens when those numbers suddenly seem to become irrelevant in times of massive upheaval or change?
Right now, we’re facing unprecedented times—in the midst of this COVID-19 crisis, it seems like things are changing so quickly that one day’s numbers are no longer relevant by the next. We’re accustomed to looking at 30 or 60 or 90 days of historical data to make forecasts, but that feels impossible now.
Many businesses who rely on big data for decision-making are struggling with this right now. So, I’d like to propose a few guiding principles to help data-driven decision makers cope with a crisis of this scale.