Data doesn't need to be perfect to be useful
"Your data doesn't have to be perfect to be useful." - (Borrowed with permission from Intellidata's Slice newsletter.)
In my experience, many associations hold themselves back from cleaning up their data, because they are overwhelmed with where to start, and they also think success can only be achieved if the data is perfect. The thinking goes: since there's no way to get to perfect data, there's really no reason to start.
But it's clearly not true. The data you have now isn't perfect, nor will it ever be. But if your data is "pretty clean," it can be very useful.
So don't let perfect be the enemy of the good. Continue working on keeping your data as clean as it can be. It will never be perfect, but it will still be useful.
Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives
There is ALWAYS a Trade-off
There is ALWAYS a Trade-off I’ve written many times about trade-offs (you can read a […]
Little by little, a little becomes a lot
Little by little, a little becomes a lot “Little by little, a little becomes a […]
Why do we treat data management differently?
Why do we treat data management differently? A recent post on ASAE’s community read: “Looking […]
Don’t Forget Your Speakers!
Don’t Forget Your Speakers! A phenomenon I’ve noticed over the years is that my clients will […]
90% of your data is never touched a second time
90% of your data is never touched a second time I heard recently on a […]
Newton’s First Law
Newton’s First Law Part of Newton’s First Law states that “…an object in motion stays […]
No System is Perfect
No System is Perfect While it may sound trite, it bears repeating that no data management […]
Data Accretes
Data Accretes One of my very first jobs in the association world was managing the production […]
Don’t be so lazy…
Don’t be so lazy… One of the things that attracted me to the software world […]
Don’t try to do everything at go-live
Don’t Try to do Everything at Go-live When implementing a new AMS, there is a […]