Influence decisions with data as Software Engineer
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Most engineers think influence comes from having better data
It doesn’t
Influence comes from helping people understand what the data means and what to do next
I’ve seen solid ideas get ignored
Not because they were wrong, but because the message was fuzzy
This newsletter is about fixing that using simple language, clear thinking, and a few practical habits you can apply immediately
How decisions really happen
When you show data in a meeting, people aren’t deeply analyzing it
They’re thinking:
Is this good or bad?
Does this affect my goals?
Do I need to do something right now?
If your presentation doesn’t answer those questions clearly, people default to “let’s revisit later”
That’s how good work dies
Your job is not to show data
Your job is to reduce the thinking effort for the person deciding
1. A number alone means almost nothing
Engineers love numbers
But numbers without context are useless to most people
Examples:
“Latency is 400ms.”
“Infra costs are $1M per year.”
“Retention improved by 3%”
The natural reaction is:
“Okay, is that good?”
To make numbers meaningful, always compare them to something.
Here are simple ways to do that:
Before vs after
“This change drops latency from 400ms to 250ms.”Against a goal
“This gets us halfway to our performance target.”Against alternatives
“This cost is higher than any other team’s.”Against impact
“This saves enough money to fund two engineers for a year.”
People don’t think in raw numbers
They think in differences
If you don’t provide the comparison, they won’t feel the impact