YourOpinionMatters

Our friend, Ben Gilad, has a great post up on LinkedIn Pulse about the difference between data, information and intelligence. He uses this week’s story about H-P’s pending split-up to illustrate:

Take the case of the failed merger talks between HP and EMC. Assume you are a competitor (or a customer, or a potential partner, or a start-up looking to be bought, etc., etc.). The information about HP/EMC is all over the place but it means virtually nothing. If in your company, all you get is information, it means you have no intelligence capability.

Data (not fully verified): The talks lasted for about a year, and failed. Some speculated they failed because both Tucci (EMC’s boss) and Whitman (HP’s boss) feared shareholders will reject the proposal (which would have forced Whitman to leave? Tucci is retiring anyway).

Information (verified): After the failure of its talks with EMC, HP announces it is splitting itself up into a Printer/PC and an Enterprise divisions.

Competitive intelligence (specific perspective on “facts” and information): This is not a strategic move at all, it’s a financial move. Who cares (except for the financial markets)? What would the two separate divisions do differently than what they have done before?

OK, you get it.  But you’re thinking:  Isn’t this “intelligence” example just opinion?

Of course it is!

It is informed opinion that gathers together facts, experience and knowledge and provides an “accurate” assessment of the situation. It is not the hip shooting, unicorn conjuring kind of opinion. It is reality based.

Somehow in our fascination with data and information we have banished “opinion” to the dunce corner. We forget that data and information are inanimate … they just sit there. It is opinion that gets things done. It makes sense of the facts and points to a course of action.

Intelligence is the process of creating well informed, data based opinions. No decent business leader, investor or entrepreneur can operate without these “opinions.”

When Steve Jobs looked at the emerging electronic music market in the late 90’s and said “this sucks,” it was his opinion. It was a well informed opinion that changed the world!