Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

"When we hear (as we sometimes do) that (Russia's) economic output is about half the level of a decade ago or that real incomes have fallen sharply, it is worth recalling that economic statistics under the Soviet Union were hardly more reliable than any other official statements. - Statecraft - P48

The quote from Margaret Thatcher's book is worth mentioning because it's occasionally a good idea to remind ourselves of the shifting sands of data and information.

This is another way to look at how we must be cautious when receiving and interpreting data.

If you were to take the assumptions about the economic output as quoted by people of that time, you'd think there was a real problem there. But as Margaret Thatcher said, the reliability of the original statistics were themselves shaky, so any assertion made based upon them was shaky as well.

We all know that Russia was in deep trouble at that time, but the numbers may as well have been pulled out of thin air, because for the most part they really were. Half of an unknown is still an unknown regardless of the current situation.

When we are looking through data, one of the secrets is we must know where the source of the data originated. Once we know that, from there we can determine if where it came from was a solid, trustable source, or if the source itself can't be proven.

Any type of information that comes from a foundation of shifting sand can't be considered reliable. We can make a lot of bad decisions based on thinking something is far better or worse than they really are. Know what the conditions the data were mined from. That's the key to knowing if the resultant information is accurate.

This is one of the reasons Margaret Thatcher was a tough woman to fool. She didn't take things as they appeared, she looked behind them to see where they came from. We need to do the same.

Margaret Thatcher Resources:

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher Foundation

Margaret Thatcher Quotes

The Best Quotes From Margaret Thatcher's 'Statecraft'

Margaret Thatcher & the Revival of the West

Margaret Thatcher Speech

Interview with Margaret Thatcher

Magaret Thatcher's Life in the Shadows

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