Are My Construction Photos Dangerous?

Have you ever argued about what you said in a previous conversation? Perhaps you wished you just had a recording to get to the bottom of it. But how useful would it be?

I think it largely depends on your intention. Let's play out a couple scenarios: 1. If your goal was to prove yourself right, you might start working through all your previous conversations to find the evidence you want. You might find it, but good luck convincing the other person! They would not only resent you, but also the recordings; you'll never be able to use it again, and you'd waste a lot of time. Perhaps even worse than that, you might start actively thinking about getting "caught" while just having normal conversations. It's a trust spiral. 2. But if your goal is to go back because you care about the other person, (and you are capable of setting aside your "rightness"), you might learn something. You might see where your language and your intentions differ by seeing where you went wrong. It could make you a better communicator and a better friend.

The difference is your ego -- if you are concerned about saving face, winning, or losing, the data makes things worse. But if you're open to being wrong or changing course, the data can be useful. It's all about the ability to listen, learn, and take action.

The same thing is true of the data we collect in the workplace. IBACOS is familiar with the dance of showing people their dirty laundry when we conduct audits. This data is dangerous, mostly because we're not always sure how it will be received. For most, it provides opportunities to improve, and the data helps them achieve this. But for some, it's seen as a tool for "catching" them, and it can reinforce a culture of last-minute fixes and putting on a show.

Data collection isn't something that companies can afford to ignore either. Litigation is an ever-present reality, as is the difficulty of acquiring insurance; both can be relieved with comprehensive data. And the tools that collect data are becoming essential for communication and productivity. There's incredible capacity and pressure to collect data.

It leads to the hard question: Will we become the kind of data collectors that seek to justify behavior, or will we use it to learn?

Here's the simple truth: collecting data on how your company is performing is dangerous, but it's also inevitable. You can use this data purposefully or it will use you. If you treat the data as a tool to justify your behavior, it will backfire. If you don't use the data at all, it leaves your employees to interpret it as negatively as our culture does.

But if you use it to learn, it can make all the difference.