What Happens When Data Isn’t Enough? Key Insights from our Recent Webinar

Posted on July 22, 2026

Leaders today are surrounded by data. Reports, dashboards, surveys, AI tools, and analytics platforms provide more information than ever before. Yet many organizations struggle to make confident, informed decisions.

That challenge was the focus of our recent webinar, From Information Overload to Informed Action: How Leaders Make Evidence-Based Decisions, confronting evidence-based decision-making and the role of AI in leadership.

Throughout the session, speaker Mariel Mading, manager, Professional & Workplace Learning and Innovation explored a powerful idea: better decisions don’t start with better data; they start with better questions. To combat this disconnect for leaders, Mading proposed the use of a framework to streamline decision-making. The framework helps leaders move beyond assumptions and make decisions based on evidence, context, and critical thinking.

A Seven-Step Framework

Establish the strategic context. Before even beginning the decision-making process, determine what the true question you’re hoping to answer is. What goal does this decision serve?
Define the question. This is the easiest to skip, but one of the most crucial steps. Link the evidence you currently have to the evidence you need. What is the actual decision you’re hoping to make?
Acquire the best evidence. Thinking of the evidence you need, investigate and gather other data that could showcase other sides of the issue at hand. What can you gather quickly?
Appraise the evidence. Looking at the data you have, think of what story it tells you. Beyond that, consider the data you don’t have. How does that affect this story? How may it skew the lens of this decision?
Aggregate and synthesize. Try to find links between the data you have and the data you don’t. Investigate trends that you see, consider correlations between the two, and look at what insights you can infer.
Apply the decision. Utilize everything you’ve done to make a decision. Provide clear communication with your team and stay confident behind this choice.
Learn. Evaluate the outcomes of the decision. If value wasn’t clearly articulated, the question you were asking wasn’t the right one. With that, just asking one question can trigger the right one.

What role does AI play?

The session distinguished between AI-assisted and AI-driven approaches. An AI-assisted approach utilizes these tools as a thinking partner, helping people analyze information while leaving the final decision in human hands. AI-driven approaches, on the other hand, can be effective for high-volume, repetitive tasks but are often less effective when decisions require context, nuance, or professional judgement.

Participants were reminded that AI often presents information with confidence, but confidence should not be mistaken for evidence. Because AI relies on existing data, it can perpetuate biases, overlook context, and accept flawed information without questioning it.

Ultimately, the webinar placed emphasis on a human-centered AI approach. This means using AI to strengthen decision-making rather than replace it. AI can support the process, but people remain responsible for asking the right questions, evaluating evidence, and making the final call.

Interested in the full discussion?

Check out the webinar recording to explore the full discussion—including practical strategies for evaluating evidence, identifying bias, asking better questions, and using AI responsibly in decision-making.

If these topics resonate with your work, consider exploring our Using Data to Drive Decisions course, where participants take a deeper dive into evidence-based decision-making frameworks and learn practical techniques for applying them in their own organizations.

Whether you’re leading a team, managing a program, or shaping organizational strategy, the session offers valuable insights for turning information into action.

One final takeaway: Be honest about what you know, rigorous about what you don’t, and clear about how you arrived at your decision.

A Seven-Step Framework

Establish the strategic context. Before even beginning the decision-making process, determine what the true question you’re hoping to answer is. What goal does this decision serve?

Define the question. This is the easiest to skip, but one of the most crucial steps. Link the evidence you currently have to the evidence you need. What is the actual decision you’re hoping to make?

Acquire the best evidence. Thinking of the evidence you need, investigate and gather other data that could showcase other sides of the issue at hand. What can you gather quickly?

Appraise the evidence. Looking at the data you have, think of what story it tells you. Beyond that, consider the data you don’t have. How does that affect this story? How may it skew the lens of this decision?

Aggregate and synthesize. Try to find links between the data you have and the data you don’t. Investigate trends that you see, consider correlations between the two, and look at what insights you can infer.

Apply the decision. Utilize everything you’ve done to make a decision. Provide clear communication with your team and stay confident behind this choice.

Learn. Evaluate the outcomes of the decision. If value wasn’t clearly articulated, the question you were asking wasn’t the right one. With that, just asking one question can trigger the right one.

What role does AI play?

Interested in the full discussion?

Whether you’re leading a team, managing a program, or shaping organizational strategy, the session offers valuable insights for turning information into action.

One final takeaway: Be honest about what you know, rigorous about what you don’t, and clear about how you arrived at your decision.