Shifting the Balance

In Shifting the Balance, Mark Schrutt asserts that while data is more plentiful than it has ever been, organizations still have a tendency to rely on intuition when it comes to making decisions. He points out that some executives and leaders make decisions they are not necessarily qualified to make because being armed with data, but not having the skills required to analyze that data properly or having fragmented data offers a degree of false confidence. He begins with several examples of how businesses with too much reliance on intuition made tragic mistakes.

Schrutt predicts we’re entering a shift from complete reliance on intuition into a combined reliance on intuition based on data analytics for decision making. Artificial intelligence will help remove margin of error. In addition, AI enables a business to make decisions based on future prospects rather than historical performance. He argues that intuition still has a place, but it should be reinforced with accurate data. He also predicts the wealth of data available in seemingly unrelated industries that can be leveraged to further reinforce decisions.

Schrutt’s point that AI will enable businesses to make decisions based on predicted success instead of historical data is an exciting prospect. Too often, businesses rely solely on past performance as an indicator of what can be expected, but AI can identify those granular hidden trends even the best human mind might overlook, combine these with external influences and relationships, and offer a more accurate view of what can be expected. The question then becomes are we influencing AI or being influenced by AI? It’s both an exhilarating and frightening idea when you consider the possibilities.