????“嗯，為了證明，人們不惜編造數據。14%的人都知道這一點。”——《辛普森一家》霍默?辛普森語

????電腦天才們宣稱，大數據時代已經來臨。

????電腦已經強大到可以收集、匯總數以兆兆字節計的信息來回答各種問題，從如何安排員工薪酬待遇，到某支抵押貸款債券的風險有多大，無所不包。

????雖然數據不會說謊，但人們使用數據的方式卻極為主觀。量化分析在2007年的金融危機中起到了推波助瀾的作用，但是如果企業只是簡單地認為，光靠一屋子擺弄數據的分析師就可以解決問題，那么結果不僅會對他們的資產損益造成損害，同時也會損害他們的企業文化和員工的福利。

????企業執行委員會（Corporate Executive Board）的執行理事施維坦克?沙表示：“數據可以幫助人們做出決策，但如果覺得所有重要的決策都可以交給電腦那就錯了。”企業執行委員會最近出版了一份調查報告，名為《超越洞察力赤字：大數據時代的大判斷》（Overcoming the Insight Deficit: Big Judgment in an Era of Big Data.）。報告指出，認為只要有10個分析師，就能解決公司所有數據問題的想法是錯誤的。

????未來那些最擅于利用數據分析來引導決策的企業將獲得許多競爭優勢，對于這一點沒什么人會表示懷疑。不過施維坦克?沙表示，僅僅擁有數據是不夠的。根據企業執行委員會，在一份針對4,941人進行的調查中，只有38%的員工稱得上是“消息靈通的懷疑主義者”，他們依賴數據，但并不盲從，既不害怕置疑數據分析的結果，也敢于從他人那里索要反饋。43%的員工對數據堅信不疑。還有19%的員工很少相信數據分析，喜歡憑直覺做事。

????施維坦克?沙認為：“我們必須面對這樣一個事實：我們的教育系統沒有教會我們如何有效地分析數據。我們向受訪者展示了一些圖表，問他們這些圖表代表什么意思。結果就連那些從常青藤名校畢業的學生也很難搞清這些數據究竟代表了什么。”這種教育的缺失并非沒有辦法彌補。該研究顯示，僅僅向學生提供培訓，教給他們分析工具和軟件的使用方法還不夠，更重要的是教會他們如何與數據互動。換句話說，就是如何批判性地思考。

????要想讓員工成為“消息靈通的懷疑主義者”，企業可以建立一種數據導向型的文化（但并不是成為數據的奴隸），從CEO開始自上而下地推廣。如果CEO身體力行，其他員工也很可能參與進來。

????施坦維克?沙表示，另一種有效的方法就是在雇傭數據分析師的時候，不僅要考慮他們的分析能力，還要考慮他們是否有能力和意愿去向其他人解釋這些數據代表了什么意思。“招聘分析師時還得考慮指導技能，”他說。“每一個分析師都能改善幾十、甚至幾百個人的決策能力。”

????葛蘭素史克制藥公司（GlaxoSmithKline）正在用數據分析來挑戰一些人們認為無可辯駁的常理。該公司北美制藥部的IT高級副總裁喬?托伊介紹道，葛蘭素史克正在利用數據分析來重新設計銷售運作，把這項過去完全依賴人脈的業務轉變成一項依賴數據的業務。

????"Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything. Fourteen percent of people know that." – Homer Simpson

????The era of big data is here, the nerds proclaim.

????Computers are powerful enough to gather and synthesize terabytes of information to answer questions ranging from how best to compensate employees to how risky is that mortgage-backed security.

????But while the numbers don't lie, how people use them is extremely subjective. Quantitative analysis played a part in the financial crisis of 2007, after all, and companies that think a room full of analysts crunching numbers can solve their problems can do damage to not only their profits and losses but also to their corporate culture and employee well-being.

????"Making the decision at the end of the day can be aided by data, but the thought that computers will make all the important decisions is just not true," says Shvetank Shah, executive director of the Corporate Executive Board (CEB), which recently published a study titled Overcoming the Insight Deficit: Big Judgment in an Era of Big Data. "Saying that I've got 10 quant jocks who are going to solve all my data problems is the wrong way to go about it."

????There is little argument that many competitive advantages in the future will go to those who most effectively use analytics to guide decisions. Having the data, though, is not enough, Shah says. According to the CEB, only 38% of employees in a 4,941-person study were considered "informed skeptics" who rely on data but not so much that they are afraid to question the results and solicit feedback from others. The rest of the workforce either trust data without question (43% of the study participants) or rarely trust analysis and prefer to go with their gut (19%).

????"We have to face up to the fact that our education system isn't preparing us to analyze data effectively," Shah says. "We showed people graphs and asked them what they mean, and even folks with Ivy League educations struggled to make sense of the data."

????There are ways to bridge the education gap, though. Shah's research has shown that training is ineffective when students are told to focus on the analytic tool or software being used. Instead, they should be taught how to interact with the data or, in other words, how to think critically.

????One way for a company to ensure that they turn their employees into "informed skeptics" is to work on creating a data-driven (but not data-enslaved) culture, starting with the CEO on down. If the chief executive is on board, others will likely join.

????Another effective method, according to Shah, is to hire quants not only for their analytic abilities, but also for their ability and willingness to explain what they do to others. "You've got to hire quants for their coaching skills," he says. "Each quant can improve the decision making capabilities of 10s or 100s of others."

????GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is using analytics to roast several sacred cows, says Joe Touey, senior vice president in IT at its North America Pharmaceuticals division. The company has embraced data analysis to redesign its sales operations, moving what was once a field based solely on relationships to one that's now based on data.