All, I love the quote - facts are stubborn things! I also hear a lot: "numbers don't lie" and my favorite though it will show my age: "I can get you any results you'd like, what's it worth to you? There is no wrong, there is no right, just data to be manipulated" (don henly song...).

All of this ties in to a point believe it or not. We're talking about ratios and analysis used in strategic decision making this week. All this data, however, must be used with caution. There can be errors, there can be intentional manipulation, there can be outlying factors that cause figures to look 'off' or make it appear to be one thing but caused by something entirely different.

Given all of those scary notions, what do you think we can do when we look at our ratios and other data in our strategic processes to help us ensure they are accurate and help ensure we don't jump to false conclusions? Group, your thoughts?