News & Updates:

Like the website?
Recommend Us To a Friend

Step 2 • Get the Facts - Part 2

One of the important points to remember in going after facts is that other people's opinions are not always reliable. It is a characteristic of a human being that he is seldom bothered by insufficient data, and often the less he has, the more willing he is to give a firm opinion. And, unfortunately, some people prefer even a wrong answer to the necessity of digging further for verification or amplification in their factual quest. Consequently, it is easy to fall into a "blind-leading-the-blind" pattern in compil­ing information, so that you end up with inaccurate information, a confused mind, and a still unsolved problem.

One sure symptom of possible trouble with the "facts" you have is that you find yourself in an argument when discussing them with someone else. No matter how you look at it, argument is an indication of lack of facts. When all the facts are known and verified, there cannot be argument.

Once you are reasonably certain your facts are facts, then you should classify or categorize them. Separate the usable facts from the non usable; separate the important facts from the non important ones. Just as you can separate out the key sub problem in a given situation—one that, if resolved, will make all the others details—so you can also separate out the "mountain-moving" facts: those so important that if you act on them, they will serve to cancel out many unimportant, even though completely op­posed, ones.

Where do you get facts? Many are probably readily available in your office or in your home library. You can talk to other people to find out what firsthand experiences they have had (beware of the "I know a fellow who had a friend" type of fact!). Visit the library and read up on the problem. If you know what you are looking for in advance (and you should, if you have suitably oriented your problem before you start), you can make your fact-hunting time much more productive. John Gunther, the author of the "Inside . . ." books, is noted for his ability to make lightning visits to various cities and countries and come away with all the pertinent facts that other authors spend weeks or even months gathering. His secret? As one who worked with him reports, "He is a master of the art of brain-picking—and of choosing the right brain to pick. From careful homework, he knows precisely what information his story needs, and can extract it with the efficiency of an automatic orange squeezer!"

And that brings up one of the most efficient methods of digging out facts: tough questioning. "Tough," not with people, but with the information people give you. One of the country's most successful new product companies uses a highly detailed checklist to make sure it has all the facts before committing itself too deeply on a new idea. Although you may never need such an exhaustive list of questions on your problems, this will give you an idea of just how far it is possible to carry question-asking when you want to be sure you have all the facts:

Can we sell it? Is there a market now?—if not, can one be de­veloped? Is it compatible with present products? Selling price all right for the expected market? Consumer education needed?

Can we make it? Sources of required materials? Do we have per­sonnel in the company to manufacture it now? Need for technical staff to develop?—to manufacture? Do we have machines to make it?

What investment is required?—to develop?—to market? Distribu­tion costs? How soon will it pay its own way?

What will the product be like? Size? Weight? Handling proper­ties? Perishable? How will we transport the finished product? Can related products be developed?

How will we sell it? Present sales force?—new sales organization? What kind of sales promotion necessary? Manner of merchandising?

If the answers to any of these questions are unfavorable, the standard follow-up question is then, "Can we change this sit­uation? "

Of course you have to be sure that in this quest for facts you don't let any of your own preconceived ideas of what the facts should be deter you from getting the real facts. Frequently, "facts" will contradict your own notions of what something should be. To try to distort them, in this case, will only result in your weakening your ability to solve the problem. So, in searching for the truth in a situation, make sure you are not like the coed on her way to a political rally, who stated: "I'm going with an open mind, a complete lack of prejudice, and a cool rational approach to listen to what I'm convinced is pure rubbish!"

When do you stop your fact searching? This will call for exercise of judgment: it may be you will stop when the facts you get seem to be duplicating each other—when you are no longer getting usable new information. Or perhaps it will have to be when the cost of gaining any additional information will be higher than the possible value of the information. It is probably true that no one ever has all the facts pertaining to a problem, and there will come a time when you will have to work with what you have. But before abandoning your search, it might always be well to remember the remark made by one of the staff physicians at the famous Mayo Diagnostic Clinic. When asked why it was that this clinic could successfully isolate a disease that had baffled even the best doctors in a patient's home town, or why they were able to accurately diagnose a new disease that other doctors had given up on, he replied, "We just probe a little deeper, and keep at it a little longer/"

Related terms include internationale betriebswirtschaft and business college.