I’ve always wanted to learn how to solve a Rubik’s cube. I had one when I was around 10 to 12 years old. I never succeeded. When I did, it was only by “adjusting” the stickers between the blocks. So, it did not really count.
What was the issue? I thought solving the Rubik’s cube was an intellectual, logical exercise. I was wrong. Thanks to some YouTube tutorials, 30 years later, I finally learned how to solve it. It turns out you can do it by following a sequence of algorithms. There is no magic — just remembering some rules and steps (and luckily still some mental effort, at least for myself).
I used to have a similar issue with data-driven storytelling. Let’s put it into perspective, akin to me being 10 years old trying to solve the cube. You would think that data-driven storytelling is used to tell the audience an objective story about data and analysis — conclusions, assumptions, positives, and negatives. The audience should know all the facts to make fully informed decisions. This might also involve sharing analysis scenarios that proved wrong. Ultimately, the audience is supposed to…