The100: Dodgy data, being bored and The Kierkegaard Edit

Don’t trust the data 

Jane Frost, CEO of the Market Research Society, shared some sage words along with Grant Feller’s story about how wrong people were to trust data. Gulp. Grant said:

“Data deceives. We’re in awe of it and yet we don’t ask the right questions of it. Why? So what? Why does it matter, so what does that mean? Make 2025 the year you think of storytelling as a tactic to help business growth. Tactical Storytelling is not about arranging things neatly, succinctly and entertainingly. It’s about helping decisions get made because you’ve asked the right questions of the data.”

Tips for your next presentation

If you do any presenting, then a recent interview with the all time master, Marcus Henry Brown, will definitely help. I’ve used many of Marcus’s tools (especially the Canvas) and it’s completely changed my approach. Ace. 

Related, this piece on The Kierkegaard Edit. We read / watch a narrative by starting at the beginning, but it’s often created by starting at the end. 

Day in, day out

Talking of data, Domo have released their ever interesting ‘every minute of the day’ graphic. 

Which, if my maths is correct, shows that for every 50 steps taken in America, 1 minute of Netflix is watched. 

BORING!!!

I remember hearing someone say that no-one is bored anymore. Kids are no longer staring out the window for 4hrs on a drive somewhere. So I enjoyed Kate Lindsay’s piece on getting off your phone by learning to be bored.

“As someone who has made plenty of contributions to the getting-off-your-phone content industry, I can confidently say that the real solution is not that complicated. There’s no theory to learn or science to practice. You don’t have to do anything to fix your attention span. You just have to be bored.”

Not unrelated, we’re spending more time alone, and it’s changing our relationship to reality. But maybe reading can help?

Tagging taglines

Apparently most taglines fit into 24 rhetorical devices. Where does yours sit? 

I admit to not knowing the meaning of half of these devices – paraprosdokian anyone?

And finally…

The most millennial complaints… There are some absolute gems here. 

And is Gen Z really changing boomer habits, or just rebranding them?

Top news from down under for those who like spiders.