As Benjamin Disraeli, former British Prime Minister, is reputed to have said, “there are kind of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” Unsurprisingly, however, we have a fetish for numbers because we believe they represent strong evidence either for or against something. We have taken to this self-delusion even when we know that people often use numbers to lie and that numbers do not speak for themselves. Beyond human nature, the fact that people generally lie, I think the answer lies in ‘deliverology’, the new science of delivery. The leader is encouraged to establish a dedicated delivery unit, under a strong powerful leader, to track progress and report. It doesn’t surprise me at all that numbers will be cooked and small things exaggerated beyond comprehension.

Source: Standard Digital April 15, 2017 21:00 UTC