Being Data-Driven does not mean to Only Use Data or Automate Everything

Did you watch the Hungarian F1 race Sunday July thirty first? Max Verstappen certified tenth on Saturday however gained the race. Lewis Hamilton began seventh and ended second. The pole sitter, George Russel ended up third. The two Ferrari drivers, who certified 2nd and third and favored to carry out effectively, ended up 4th and sixth respectively. Something went array for Ferrari, however what?

What is Strategy?

This is yet one more story about what technique actually means.  On lap 21 the TV digital camera panned to the corners earlier than the primary straight.  The two Ferrari drivers of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc had been underneath 1 second aside chasing down the chief, George Russel.  As the digital camera adopted the main three vehicles, It appeared just like the Ferrari’s had been about to overtake the chief. Then we heard over the Ferrari radio, ‘field, field, field’. Box means ‘head to the pits’. Just as Ferrari pace and tire administration appeared prefer it was paying off they usually may take the lead whereas on the monitor, somebody at Ferrari determined to take the vehicles out of the battle. What?  Why?

As the race unfolded issues went from dangerous to worse. One of the Ferrari’s placed on arduous tires. All the opposite  entrance runners had been on mushy or medium tires. A few different vehicles had been on arduous tires however their race tempo was off they usually had been not aggressive. Putting on arduous tires didn’t make sense. From there on, the Ferrari misplaced place and was uncompetitive with the highest drivers.

Post-Race Review

In the post-race interviews the true downside surfaced. Christian Horner, staff precept of the profitable Red Bull, gave it away. It appears that on the day before today, in hotter climate, the arduous tire did provide larger efficiency than mushy or medium tires. That was what the info stated then.

When Mattia Binotto was interviews, the Ferrari staff precept famous that his vehicles “didn’t carry out as anticipated”.  Ferrari had determined to placed on arduous tires on race say (Sunday) utilizing knowledge from Saturdays qualifying session.  Christian’s crucial killer phrase was this: “You solely had to search for from the display screen.”

Here is the story in my phrases. Ferrari had been relying an excessive amount of on knowledge alone to inform or dictate their technique. Red Bull and Mercedes all used knowledge, however they added a human ingredient. They had appeared up from their screens and noticed how the arduous tires had been truly performing within the cooler climate. Thus they discounted the info due to totally different situations.  Ferrari didn’t. Ferrari assumed the info was dependable, trusted. And so it was. But the info didn’t apply to the precise race situations of the day!

What Being Data-Driven Really Means

Conclusion: to be data-driven does not mean to (solely) use knowledge or use knowledge on a regular basis to automate each choice. Some choices want to be augmented: Machines or people utilizing knowledge is not at all times sufficient. Sometimes you want to search for or away from the info.

So to be data-driven does not mean to (solely) use knowledge. I like to say that to be data-driven actually means “to assist enterprise leaders ask smarter questions of the enterprise and surroundings round them”. Ferrari didn’t ask a wiser query. They requested a query from the day before today and bought a solution for the day before today. The different groups requested a special, smarter query. And ignored the info and expanded their knowledge set.  (Toto Wolff quote)

The Ferrari drivers, who ought to have been on the rostrum on the finish of the race, completed within the doldrums.

Previous weblog on F1: Strategy is Learning by Doing (Toto Wolff quote)

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