We Have a Data Problem. Except We Don't.
Why the real challenge isn't analysis — it's translation
The outside claims this piece leans on, and where they come from. Each note says what the source looked at, so you can judge how far it stretches.
At Bletchley Park, Hut 6 broke encrypted enemy messages
Not fetched. The Bletchley Park Trust codebreaking-huts page was blocked (robots.txt). (1940–1945)
Wartime codebreaking section at Bletchley Park handling German Army and Air Force Enigma.
Hut 3 turned Hut 6's decrypts into clear, decision-ready intelligence for commanders
Not fetched. The Bletchley Park Trust codebreaking-huts page was blocked (robots.txt). (1940–1945)
Bletchley Park section that turned Army and Air Force Enigma decrypts into Ultra intelligence reports, 1940–45.
John Kotter has spent decades writing about why organisations fail to change despite knowing they need to
Kotter's 1995 HBR article on failed corporate transformation efforts, from his observation of 100+ companies.
Most organisations communicate from the outside in (what, how, why); the most inspiring leaders start with why
Sinek S. How great leaders inspire action. TEDxPugetSound, 2009 (transcript)
Sinek's Golden Circle model as set out in his 2009 TEDx talk.
Simon Sinek built a career on the observation that people do not act on what you do, they act on why it matters
Sinek S. How great leaders inspire action. TEDxPugetSound, September 2009; Start With Why, 2009
Sinek's 2009 TEDx talk on the 'Golden Circle' model of leadership communication.
Sinek's Golden Circle TED talk: fifteen minutes, a man and a whiteboard
Sinek's 2009 TEDxPugetSound talk, about 18 minutes long, delivered with a flip chart.
Sinek's question: why do some organisations and leaders inspire where others do not?
Sinek S. How great leaders inspire action. TEDxPugetSound, 2009 (transcript)
Opening framing of Sinek's 2009 TEDx talk.
Starting with why works because of how people decide: data satisfies the rational mind, meaning moves people to action
Sinek S. How great leaders inspire action. TEDxPugetSound, 2009 (transcript)
Sinek's brain-based explanation of the Golden Circle, 2009 TEDx talk.
The data storytelling field (Knaflic, Cairo and others) holds that insight only lands when it is communicated with intent
Practitioner books on data visualisation and communication, 2012–2016.