Don't give up because data isn't on your side.

(Names and identities have been altered)

I still remember Eva pitching a business case to the Board. Her team had been working on the idea for months. They felt it could be a game-changer. I didn't know enough to decide either way, but her diligence and conviction were palpable. She was anxious walking into the room.

Eva presented. Her direction was clear and well structured.

"Any questions?"

The usual - often patronising - platitudes followed. "Great effort. Thanks for coming out and presenting this to us".  Each executive proceeded to mark their territory, peppering Eva with questions on a range of issues, market interest, technology, timelines, capacity, amongst other concerns and others.

Eva fielded these with class.

There was a pause in the room. The leadership team glanced at each other. Eva's pitch was on the verge of approval. Each VP fancies being the first to "back" a business case. There's a catch, though: being the first to back a project is a power move. But only if you have the majority on your side. Supporting Eva only to be knocked back by those around the table is an embarrassment. No one wanted that risk.

Sadly these aren't the only two choices in an executive's repertoire of power moves.

"We need to be data-driven," declared Rod, gesturing at Eva. Rod was one of the VPs in the room.

He paused, soaking in the attention, feeling his authority smoulder.

Most people would not find that statement particularly illuminating. "No kidding" would be a fair sentiment. But in Board rooms, particularly those leading companies to extinction, executives are prone to posturing. Reinforcing this behaviour is how Rod's colleagues respond. Hands-on chins. Sullen, pondering faces signalling how deeply struck they are by Rod's inane point.

In those brief moments, each executive is ever aware of the room's aqueous power dynamics. Responding with too much enthusiasm risks diluting their manicured gravitas. Those that appreciate the ridiculousness of the moment can't afford to lose allies over this. The solution: a slow, calculated nod.

The responses that follow are predictable. Some variation of "that's an interesting point", "I tend to agree"— by this point, everyone is wearing a profoundly thoughtful expression to fit in.

Without realising, the leadership team are closing ranks, sinking into groupthink — the sentiment shifts.

They look at Eva - extending her a genteel smile laced with pity.

A slew of new questions follow: How many people did we survey? Is that enough? Did we ask the right questions to begin? How much revenue will this generate? What sort of assumptions underpin the forecasts? Have you considered risks x, y and z? Where's the data to quantify those?

Various executives take turns pontificating about one matter or another — the mood shifts from approval to outright cynicism.

By this point, Eva was channelling her inner strength to see this meeting through. She was feeling crushed. She was data-driven. That's what her team had been gathering for months. But it wasn't the type of data this group wanted.

More executives piled on. Eventually:

"I think we need to do more research on this",

"Yes, that's what I was thinking too",

"You're right (Rod); we can't decide on this without strong data".

Proud of their decisive leadership, they thank Eva for her time and decide there isn't enough data to approve the project.

Confession: I was there

I am ashamed to have been at that Board meeting. I had an agenda item that I needed the room's support for later on. Some might say I was picking battles, but I am incredibly embarrassed that I was silent. Mainly because I know what it's like to be the Eva in the room. I was in her shoes many times in the years leading up.

I have always wanted to make up for that failure.

Why you should care

This series illustrates common scenarios where data doesn't seem to be on your side. It's easy to get steamrolled by people who dismiss your idea as lacking evidence. It's a lot harder proving that the data is at odds with reality. It's even more difficult if you were the one gathering the data in the first place.

I hope this gives someone (perhaps you) the confidence to not give up on the first roadblock. A reason to dig deeper when your heart feels an idea is worth pursuing— a way to blend between heart and mind, numbers and reality.

If you identify as:

• a leader tasked with assessing an opportunity or business case,
• a founder struggling to make the numbers work,
• a product manager wanting to come to terms with your intuition,
• an Eva who wants to fight back

Then this series is for you.

Part two is titled "3 things to do when data isn't on your side" and shares practical techniques to consider whether to kill off an idea or whether a different issue could be at play.

Part three is titled "Pursuing truth"— techniques for teams and leaders to tackle some of the behaviours from Eva's story. Fundamentally, we explore how Boards and investment committees can elevate the quality of their conversations. How do we leave behind refined forms of posturing and encourage conversations grounded in empathy and pragmatism?

Why share my views now?

I'm capitalising on a lucky situation. Data happens to be on my side for a new idea I'm pursuing: flowbench.io. We're helping Product and CX teams cut through the noise and get clear on the user journey they are working on—all the while encouraging teams to bring their apps and individuality into the process.

Flow Bench is based on a real pain when I led product and CX projects at four previous organisations. Agile boards never gave me (or PMs I worked with) a sense of what the team was working towards. They failed to paint a picture of how the project "hanged together".

To validate this, I did some research - surveying and interviewing a whole range of potential customers. 91% feel there's a real need. And half of them are keen to pay for the solution from a very early stage.

Starting with research made sense. I had to survey the market. I needed feedback. But deep down, I wondered what I would do if the responses weren't as strong as I hoped they should be.

I was terrified.

Would I give up? Would I go back and search for a different problem to solve?

When I launched the survey, two of the first three responses came back in the negative.

My heart sank.

For the rest of the day, I considered how I thought about the process. Why was I feeling the urge to push ahead despite the dread? What if 91% of people didn't believe Flow Bench was essential?

My situation reminded me of Eva. It made me think back to what those people on the Board would have said if I had pitched Flow Bench to them. And more importantly, how would I lead them through their concerns?

This series is in no way discounting the importance of research and data. It simply explores why data and truth aren't always the same. And more importantly: techniques to help teams and leaders stay focused on reality, even when the data isn't in your favour.

At some point, you may find that your data and reality tell you the same thing: not to proceed. It might be heartbreaking, but that's okay. You'd rather know now than later. This series is to give you the ammo you need to reach clarity.

Follow Ahmed on twitter to get notified when I share part two.

About the Author

Ahmed is passionate about Product and Design. He's particularly passionate about solving an age-old problem for CX and Product managers: Kanban and whiteboarding tools fail to tell a story of how things hang together.

To solve this, Ahmed founded Flow Bench. What is Flow Bench? Flow Bench helps CX and Product teams keep their teams focused on the user journey they're focused on.

Learn more and sign up for free early access to Flow Bench at flowbench.io