“Perfect” Data

If the data looks too clean, too perfect, and too convenient, it’s probably lying to you.

Real world data is messy. There are outliers, gaps, and weird anomalies. If a report shows flawless growth with no issues, either someone cherrypicked the data, or ignored key problems.

Trustworthy analysis doesn’t aim for a perfect story, it aims for a true one. So if the data looks too good to be true, it probably is, and you should reach for your inner sceptic. Reality is never neat, but a good analyst will help make sense of it anyway.