Drawing on Courage by Ashish Goel & Stanford d.school

Author:Ashish Goel & Stanford d.school [Goel, Ashish & Stanford d.school]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Published: 2022-04-12T00:00:00+00:00

On an episode of the podcast Without Fail, Andrew Mason, the founder of Groupon, told this story. Groupon had built its business sending customers a once-daily deal—a single email. To grow the business, Mason’s team increased to two emails a day. In the short term, the data showed that, while more people than usual unsubscribed from Groupon’s mailing list, the increase in purchases made up for that loss. So then they moved on to the next feature, the next experiment, and so on. After a while, the negative effects of many such decisions started to catch up with the business. The growth of Groupon’s customer base slowed way down, and the company’s valuation went with it. Looking back, Mason says that, at the time, the decision didn’t feel right, but, like of many us, he left the answer to the data because that felt more rational and objective. Mason’s takeaway from that experience was to be clear about when to make decisions based on values and when to make them based on data.

I am not suggesting that you avoid data- and evidence-based decision-making as a tool. Just remember that these are not the only tools. Some decisions have to be based on your values and principles. When your gut sounds the alarm, take a moment to see what it is saying—and find the courage to speak up.

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