"Many mickles make a muckle."
"Many mickles make a muckle." - George Washington
Apparently, this was an old Scottish saying (and a favorite of George Washington's) that means "things add up." Over time, many little things can become big things.
This is absolutely true when it comes to managing data. Many little decisions and actions we take will have large and long-term effects on the quality of our data.
As I discuss here, your data is either getting better or getting worse. There is no stasis. Every little positive thing you do (e.g., cleaning up that record you just opened that was incorrect, periodically asking members and customers to check their contact info, making sure you have good documentation, etc.) adds up over time.
There is no one magic wand to improving the quality of your data; it requires lots of little steps over time.
After all, many mickles make a muckle. And who am I to argue with the father of my country?
Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives
KPIs and Dashboards
I saw DJ Muller from MemberClicks speak on KPIs (key performance indicators). In his session […]
Documenting Process is Critical
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Motion vs. Action
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Are You Answering Your Calls?
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Who do you trust?
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Set benchmarks to measure progress
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You’ll make incorrect decisions. Acknowledge them and fix it.
A client of mine recently wrote the following to me: “It’s so hard to set […]
"Experience is unobservable to everyone except the person who it happens to."
In Dan Gilbert’s book Stumbling on Happiness, he writes: “Experience is unobservable to everyone except […]
Know Your Audience Before You Speak
This one may seem obvious, but when you’re speaking to anyone, whether it’s one person, […]
"Behavior is a function of the person in their environment."
Lewin’s equation says “behavior is a function of the person in their environment.” (He was […]