Five Reasons Intuition is the Spark Plug That Makes the Analytics Engine Run

Debunking the Intuition/Analysis False Dichotomy

Ben Jones’ comparison of human intuition being a spark plug is a great metaphor. Spark plugs play an important role in how your car functions. Without properly working spark plugs, your car more than likely wouldn’t be able to run at all. Likewise, intuition is the spark plug that ultimately keeps your organization moving. Photo Credit: Cars 24

Ben Jones is the Founder and CEO of Data Literacy, LLC. He’s currently on a mission to help people speak the language of data. I’ve had the opportunity to talk to him about data literacy several times since I’ve started my own mission. Ben Jones’ book Avoiding Data Pitfalls has been the guide we never realized how much we needed. Ben takes us through seven pitfalls when analyzing data and provides advice on how to navigate through them. Looking back at my own career, I recognize myself in the mistakes outlined. I jokingly refer to it as a high school yearbook full of memories and cringe-worthy moments we would love to forget!

Ben Jones is the Founder and CEO of Data Literacy, LLC. His book Avoiding Data Pitfalls is the guide we never realized how much we needed. He takes us through seven pitfalls when analyzing data and provides advice on how to navigate through them.

Ben’s conversational style makes it easy to navigate the pitfalls outlined. He prompts us to think about the data itself, what’s possible to analyze and infer from it. This serves as a well needed reminder to analysts and the audiences we educate. One much needed topic that Ben discusses is Pitfall 5A: The Intuition/Analysis False Dichotomy. He argues that analytics should not be replacing human intuition but that they…