#109: Sniff Tests (vs. Gut Checks)

'Sniff tests' are similar to 'gut checks', with one subtle distinction.

Gut checks implies intuition and a self-awareness. It has to 'feel right'. This has a very important place in decision making for several reasons:

• Often, there is no data available to analyze. Either because the endeavour is so new that no one knows anything about it, or because no capabilities exist to collect and analyze data.
• Even when data is available, it may be presented in a self-serving way. The decision maker has to cut thru the clutter to get to what is super critical and ignore the biases created by the 'noise' of irrelevant information.
• With increase in experience and battle scars, thee is a tendency to trust one's gut more than the data.

Sniff tests implies that you are collecting data from an external source. After all, you cannot 'sniff your gut', even if you could, I doubt if it will smell differently based on the data you are analyzing.

A sniff test is like testing a perfume before buying the whole bottle. Another example is to reach out and look for opinions and data on whether a course of action has any merit.

As you may have guessed, because a sniff test collect so little data, gut check is still required to take a decision!