All life on this planet must be observant of its surroundings in order to survive and thrive. However, what humans see as important may not be the same as what a lizard or algae see as important. What we all share however is the existence of certain filters in observing our surroundings. If any animal or a plant was made to observe everything, it would constantly be overwhelmed by its surroundings.
Evolution works to find what is relevant and what is not relevant for the sake of preserving through breeding and reproduction. For example, our eyes are able to detect only certain colors because that is the spectrum of light that fits us. Why would our ancestors evolve to see infrared light or X-rays? In the same regard, businesses want to collect data that is useful to them without overdoing it, and here is how this is done.
Automation
Automating manual and boring tasks is what drives innovation forward, especially in data analytics. A closer inspection of Mitto shows us that it is possible to easily integrate data from multiple sources. This data can further be prepared for analysis through an automated pipeline. There is no point in collecting data if most of your time and resources are spent in the first stages of collecting data.
Your goals
Data’s value depends on the eye of the beholder and what their intentions and goals are. Collecting data for the sake of collecting data makes zero sense, you need to know your goals. This means you need to know the context of your data and what you want to achieve with it. Just because an analysis summary shows you a lot of fancy graphs does not mean the graphs are useful. Without a goal or a context, the data you are storing is just a waste of space.
Ethical data
A lot of corporations have shown that their handling of data has become quite poor when it comes to ethics. Big corporations tell you that your data is secure with them while selling it behind your back, all for profit’s sake.
No matter what data you are collecting, you need to make sure that you are collecting it ethically. This means maximal transparency, people respect honest and coherent companies. That is very hard to find these days and you will be doing your business a lot of good by sticking to ethical guidelines.
Efficient data collection
Efficient data collection means collecting data with minimal input and maximal efficient outcome. Again, you want automated software that feeds this data into the aforementioned data pipeline. For this feed to work properly, you will need to format the data properly.
An automated system can’t run properly if the data it’s being fed is missing important pieces of the puzzle. For formatting data, you need a team that specializes in data science, and a team to enforce this new data formation.
A scientific approach to data
Businesses can, and should, take a few notes on how scientists handle data. Scientists do not use any data to make their scientific hypotheses and theories. They use objective data, and what is objective data you may ask? Objective data means using all data, not just the numbers that match your theory, or in this case make the most bucks. You need to take all data into consideration and not let your bias influence data selection.
Disregard irrelevant data
If you just stockpile data, that means more storage costs which means more losses. By knowing your goals, as mentioned, you can now focus on disregarding irrelevant data. Again, you need to make this selection objectively, as stated in the previous point.
This is done by taking a look at what data yields information that is relevant and what data yields irrelevant information. Irrelevant information does not mean information that disregards your theories. Irrelevant information is information that serves no purpose and it is more costly to get it and store it than to use it in practice.
Staying smart and innovative is integral to making any business thrive, it means accepting the future. Biology and all life hate staying static because life is, on a physical level, in a constant dynamic motion. Life yearns for chaos and it hates order, which is why everything moves forward, it is the basic principle of entropy.
In the same way, businesses must find data that make the business stay afloat and grow into the unforeseen future. We can learn a lot by taking a look at how nature runs its course and how life functions on a molecular level. This information can make us understand not only how businesses can grow but also understand life itself.
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