Most companies struggle with making data-informed decisions

Should you invest in a new consumer market? Cut that underperforming division? Buy off-the-shelf or build custom technology you urgently need to compete?

Over the course of my career, I’ve seen leaders make good, bad, and risky decisions to guide their businesses. These decisions are often based on consensus, gut instinct or complex financial models—and occasionally, a half-formed idea from the back of a meeting agenda.

But years in business have taught me something crucial: Success is driven neither by pure data worship nor blind intuition. Companies need both—especially knowing that today’s opportunity could be tomorrow’s risk. The path forward requires balancing rigorous analysis with human wisdom and context and ultimately knowing when to say what.

The three data traps

Companies typically fall into one of three traps when it comes to data.

First, low confidence in the data itself. For data to work, it must be trusted and accurate. When leaders are able to pull different reports based on different numbers, confidence evaporates. Major business decisions get derailed because teams can’t agree on basic metrics. Without consistent, and accessible, information, even the most sophisticated analytics become useless.

Second, companies can get stuck analyzing endless information. If every dashboard drives more questions than answers, that’s a losing battle. Businesses chasing endless data or sifting through a deluge risk delaying critical decisions while their competitors move ahead. Analysis paralysis is real—and costly. Finding the sweet spot between information gathering and action is the difference between missing or meeting the market.

Third, companies can’t over-rely on analytics without human context. Data can reflect what happened and may predict what happens next, but it frequently misses the “why.”  A dashboard may show low engagement from an internal tool and recommend sunsetting it. What this doesn’t take into account is the user perspective where maybe they find it hard to use or have competing priorities.   

Balance data and intuition

I spent part of my early career in public relations but exited the industry out of frustration due to the lack of meaningful data at the time, although now it is quite different. We would get a feature in a top-tier outlet, then struggle to measure the business impact. Through this, I learned a valuable lesson about balancing a good story with verifiable stats.

This balance matters across every function. Marketing teams solely relying on metrics may miss the emotional connections that drive loyalty, while finance departments only tracking historical performance may miss emerging market signals that leaders can spot. The magic happens when companies combine data-backed insights with human expertise.

At West Monroe, we’ve seen the power of this firsthand. When we worked with a tire distributor to optimize their supply chain, we didn’t just build predictive models. We paired real-time analytics and insights to optimize their planning and inventory models WITH the expertise of people who understood supplier relationships and market nuances. The result? A $200 million reduction in working capital—all during pandemic disruptions, when either data or intuition alone would have failed.

How to fix it: Build a data-driven culture

• Build trust in your data first. Start with the basics: Identify the numbers that actually move the needle for your business and ensure everyone defines and measures them consistently. When leaders trust the numbers, they’ll use them to make impactful decisions.

• Bring data where decisions happen. Stop making people hunt through separate dashboards. Instead, embed relevant insights directly into the tools your team already uses. When the right information is available at the right moment, it naturally becomes part of the decision-making process.

• Show, don’t tell. Leaders should visibly incorporate data in their decisions while acknowledging its limitations. Create space in meetings where teams can discuss both hard metrics and real-world observations. Both perspectives deserve equal airtime and consideration.

It’s never too late to lead with data

You can always become a data-driven leader. Even “walk the halls” executives who have historically avoided analytics can develop this muscle. Start small—identify one key business question where better data would improve decisions. As confidence grows, expand to more complex ones.

The most successful leaders won’t be those with the most data or the best intuition. They’ll be the ones who master the art of balancing both—and take decisive action with confidence.

Casey Foss is chief operating officer of West Monroe.