As the new millennium dawned, the data-driven paradigm that emerged in the 1990s had become firmly entrenched in corporate America. Organizations across industries were collecting, analyzing, and acting on data at an unprecedented scale. However, as with any transformative shift, the rise of data-driven management brought with it a host of unintended consequences and ethical challenges. This article explores the darker side of the data revolution, examining the limits of metrics-based management, the human cost of extreme efficiency, and the emerging ethical dilemmas of the data age.
Read MoreThe Pandemic Highlights Humility In Short Supply
If knowledge, expertise, and training do not protect against overconfidence, what does? There is one thing that everyone can do. Research advises us to embrace empathy and understanding. Consider the reasons that you may be wrong. Reducing overconfidence in yourself or others, requires us to ask: How are we mistaken? What conditions might my conclusions be incorrect? These questions are hard because we generally enter discussions attempting to prove we are right. Engaging in thinking exercises that we might fail brings up our vulnerabilities. Being vulnerable reduces our overconfidence and increases our sense of humility with our expertise.
Read More