I love data. My business partner, Leslie, loves making data useful. We always debate about what data matters and what is just nice to know. Whenever we’re discussing a client’s assessment, there is always a moment in the conversation where she asks me, “What can the client do with that result?” As someone who loves creating beautiful charts full of interesting facts (but not always applicable information), that is often a tough question to answer. But in the end it is all that matters.
We are surrounded every day with assessments where the results don’t really tell us anything that we can use. The driver’s test at the DMV is a nice hoop to jump through, but there is no way that it does anything more than delay out exit from the most depressing waiting room on Earth. The silly quizzes we take on Facebook are good time wasters but their results won’t change the way we go about our daily lives. Even assessments where we want the answers – like a business strength’s assessment I just took – don’t translate very easily into application (at least not without a heck of a lot more reading and translating).
We have a client who has recently taken the plunge into assessment and is using the results of their assessments to change the way they train their people as well as the way they look at rolling out new programs. It’s a huge, tough change, but one that began with the end in mind – ask a question so that we can use the results to make a more educated decision.
I’ll keep this late night blog short and say this – don’t ask if you don’t plan to use the results. Testing for testing’s sake is a waste of resources. Now testing to be smart about change? That’s the kind of assessment worth doing.
