If we’re going to make better decisions and take the right actions, we’re going to have to use analytics. For too long, managers have relied on their intuition or their “golden gut” to make decisions. For too long, important calls have been based not on data, but on the experience and unaided judgment of the decision-maker. Our research suggests that 40 percent of major decisions are based not on facts, but on the manager’s gut*
*Accenture survey of 254 U.S. managers
"Sometimes intuitive and experience-based decisions work out well, but they can go astray: businesses often price products and services based on their hunch about what the market will bear, not on actual data detailing what consumers have been willing to pay under similar circumstances in the past; managers often hire people based on intuition, not on an analysis of the skills and personality traits that predict an employee’s high performance; supply chain managers often maintain a comfortable level of inventory, rather than a data-determined optimal level; baseball scouts often zoom in on players who “look the part,” not on those with the skills that—according to analytics—win games."
"Companies that continue to manage on auto-pilot—by having sales seminars because that’s what’s always been done, for example—are not competing as effectively as they could be. Often overlooked is that becoming more analytical is not solely the responsibility of a manager, it’s an essential concern for the entire organization."