Summary
A book titled with the ever-popular phrase. Despite this, it is written by someone who is a numbers person. This has surprised me, as I have thought this book may be written by a 'non-numbers' person on how to overcome the problem of being one, based on the title. This book begins by explaining the importance of knowing and understanding data which it calls data literacy. The concept of triangulation which means taking a data point from multiple (3 for triangle) is mentioned time and time again in the book henceforth. Next, it goes into detail on the next 2 steps in working with data and numbers at work - data visualisation and data storytelling. It closes off with making decisions and having conversations with data going back to the idea of being data-informed than data-driven in its opening chapter.
Things I Like
1. Simple steps. Moving from data literacy to data visualisation to data storytelling in chapters, the book sets out to educate readers on working with data in its simplest terms. One may not immediately know how to generate fantastic charts after reading this book, but it helps forms an understanding of the steps. This is especially useful for managers and leaders who do need to do number-crunching yet need to decide matters using data.
2. Short summaries. The book offers summaries and reflective questions after each chapter that enables readers to grasp the main points quickly after reading through the pages of the text. Acting like a guide, the author walks readers through the thinking behind the steps in using data to make decisions in digestible ways.
Final Verdict: A practical book is for everyone whose work involves data and numbers.