Three things about data

Some recent conversations have reminded me that I have opinions about data and its use inside organisations. Especially for marketing-type stuff.Here are three of those opinionsGather less of itA few years ago in a sales meeting some ad-tech person said 'I bet you wish you had more data on your customers' and the my perpetually contrary inner voice said 'oh no I don't, I wish I had far less'. I may have actually said it. I may have said 'No I don't, I wish I had less, and if you came to me promising an effective service with far less data I might have been interested.' That's what I'd have said now.Because:a. Data is a risk. Every bit of data has to be managed/looked after/cared for. That costs time and money. And most of it is useless.b. Data is distracting. Most of it is just noise. You're gathering it because you can, just in case, because it seems valuable. Then you spend ages trying to work out what to do with it. When you should be paying attention to just a couple of bits of it…