Great Waste...Less Filling

Looked at your statistics and metrics lately? I mean really looked.
Structure. Design. Content.
Just what are you collecting?
Let's face it. We've all been there. The mindset that says 'more is better'. Collect all the data you can. Crunch all the numbers. Generate all the statistics and metrics possible.
Wrong.
Statistical analysis needs to be relevant. Without context it is no better than the raw data. It needs to represent something. And that something needs to be relevant to your process, your ministry or your church. It needs to answer questions about the effectiveness you’re having in your mission and vision. Sure, you can do a trend analysis on how many people during your weekend services are wearing red shirts. But does it mean anything?
We can get so caught up in collecting data that we forget what it will be used for. We forget that our analysis needs to change as our methods change – as we innovate we need to look at our data collection and our statistics. Still collecting the same data you did in 1989? Might want to take a look at that. Still collecting the same data you did in 2005? You might want to take a look at that too.
So before you have that conversation with your IT guys about how you need more data storage space, take a look at what you're collecting. Prune. Trim. Get relevant. Stop contributing to the Great Waste of disk space and make your data and statistics Less Filling. I think you’ll find it’ll be easier to keep pace with your innovation strategy.