Data
driven
Recently I have had to
think quite a lot about
data. I’m not going to
pretend it keeps me
awake at night; indeed,
it often has the opposite
effect, which can be
comforting to know when
counting backwards
doesn’t do the trick.
However, it is perhaps more important
than we generally give it credit for in a
business such as ours, or indeed in life
generally. It’s really the thing that ties
everything else together.
So what do I tend to reflect upon?
Before getting on to that, what exactly do
I mean by data?
Oxford dictionary definition; facts and
statistics collected together for reference
or analysis
Sounds a bit dull, but in reality it’s the
use to which data is put, and the way it
affects and drives behavior that makes
it more interesting and (in some ways)
scary.
For example, did you know that certain
online companies describe themselves
as “data driven businesses” because
they set out to use the data they collect
about us, including our shopping habits,
to make sure that they deliver goods
or services in a way that is intended
to suit our particular needs? That not
only includes data about what we order
and when we order it, but also what we
don’t order (but may have looked at on a
web page, started completing an order
form, and then changed our mind). It
also includes information about what
10
happened last time when the delivery
driver failed to find us in. Did they have
to leave the item with a neighbour, in the
shed, in the carport, or on the doorstep?
Were we happy with what they did? Did
the item reach us? All of that is analysed
and is available to the next delivery
driver so that if on that occasion we are
not in, the driver doesn’t have to waste
his/her and your time taking the item
away and making you call to collect it
– they will simply know what’s the best
option for you (or at least that’s what the
data will say is the best option).
So why have I been thinking about this I
hear you ask? What has all of that to do
with a law firm? Well, we are just about
to invest in a new IT software system,
and it’s very much centred on the data
we hold and collect and promises to
make us much better at getting our work
done efficiently and in ways that meet
our clients’ needs. Of course it is only as
good as the data underpinning it, and we
have to think very hard about what we
want that data to be, how we collate it,
and how we then use it.
Traditionally, law firms haven’t really
placed much emphasis on data. When I
started in practice, the records ݔ