We think of data science as a modern discipline that came into prominence with the rise of the information age. The term ‘data science’ only goes back to the 1960s – but the practice of collecting information from which you can understand, interpret, and extrapolate real-world phenomena is as old as human societies. The Ancient Egyptians stored administrative data on papyrus; the Normans used the Doomsday book for census taking and tax purposes. But less commonly know is the Incan quipu.
An administrative quipu from 1400-1532. Photo: ©Jonathan Dorado, Brooklyn Museum
Imagine holding a necklace from which hangs a series of colorful, knotted strands. But it’s not for decoration – what you are holding is a database. In the right hands, it could tell you about the lives of the people who lived in the Incan Empire. They could record the census, taxes obligations, payments, dates of rituals- all stored in a 3-D system. More importantly, a series of cotton strings which could be wrapped up was much easier to transport across a far-flung mountainous empire than sheets of delicate paper.
The quipus (sometimes spelled khipu) are known as the talking knots. Made from cotton or other fibers, these color-coded strings are looped into knots, encoding data on a ‘place-value system.’ The main cord would branch off into sub-cords. The kind of knots would represent a specific decimal value, meaning that any number could be represented.
Want to learn to read knots? Here’s a video.
Reading quipus was a specialized position with the knowledge passed down through generations. That specialized knowledge was lost with the invasion and subjugation by the Spanish Empire, who squashed many cultural practices. But there are still plenty of hard-working scientists, historians, artists, and archeologists dedicated to finding and preserving these ancient databases.
Image of Cecilia Vicuña’s fascinating installation Quipu desaparecido (Disappeared Quipu). ©Brooklyn Museum, 2018
What can we learn from quipus?
- At the Room40 Group, we believe that data does not equal information. It’s only in the right hands that the quipus began to ‘talk’ and tell us about the immense data they contained.
- Visualizing and analyzing data can be an art as much as a science. This a great example of a world of data represented not just clearly, but beautifully.
- Data can be represented by more than just pie charts. When you expand your perception of how data can be tracked and visualized, you open your mind to innovation.
1. Engage people. There are no great strategies, just strategies well implemented. One of the most critical steps in maximizing impact is getting your team on board by involving them in the process. We balance input and perspectives from national and local leadership at the staff and board levels, front line to executive, program to back office. We build this in from the beginning to get important input, educate and empower those involved, and create support for the plan as it is developed.
2. Write your narrative. We start the project by defining the narrative for the organization: Where are we today? Where do we want to be tomorrow? What is our vision of the future? This simple, short story will align your leadership on the front end and ground future conversations with staff and stakeholders on the important values and vision underpinning the organization’s next chapter.
3. Develop a hypothesis. Next, we help you develop a strong and testable hypothesis for how you will move from today to tomorrow. This will help us identify and prioritize the most critical decisions you need to make, and the specific data we collectively need to validate (or improve) the hypothesis.
4. Conduct analysis. With the narrative and hypothesis to guide our efforts, we overlay quantitative and qualitative data, judgement and opinions to inform, validate and revise our thinking. We conduct both internal analysis (programs, operations, financials) and external analysis (competitors, partners, geographic fit, funding options). Our Internal work builds on what you already know about your organization, supplemented with interviews and additional analysis. Our external work brings to the table new research, data and analysis about different the different opportunities and challenges that shape the context for your work.
5. Create scenarios. The narrative, hypothesis and analysis come together to inform your organization’s decisions about its future. To facilitate the decision-making, we believe in the power of developing several scenarios that offer distinct and competing views of what the organization will be doing in the future. These scenarios will be intentionally provocative. They elicit reactions that help us identify what will be embraced and challenging among the options. They open up a conversation about why. It’s not unusual to like the reach of one scenario, the depth of another and the funding model of the third. Some things are incompatible. Others can be integrated. In the end we can’t do everything and so we’ll have to choose.
6. Put together the plan. With the future vision decided, we develop a plan for how to get there informed by all we have learned about the organization and its external context. This becomes the document that guides you internally and rallies your supporters externally.
7. Get ready for Implementation and change management. Finding the “what”, or answer, is only the beginning. Arguably, the harder work begins with the “how”, or changes in behavior, staff, systems, and process… and that requires a clear articulation of the “why.” We can’t do that for you, but we draw on our executive experience leading similar efforts, our wins and our failures, to help you do it better.
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