📢 Welcome to Business Story of the Week! 🎙️
Hosted by Joshua Lori, this podcast episode dives deep into how businesses can navigate a world rife with misinformation. Our guest today is none other than Professor Alex Edmans, a finance expert, author, and Ted speaker with over 2.8 million views on his videos. He’s here to break down how data can be misused and how we can arm ourselves with tools to sift through misleading information. 💡✨

Professor Alex Edmans’ Journey: From Finance to Fighting Misinformation
In our chat, Alex opens up about his journey. He didn’t always know he’d be combating misinformation for a living. 🏦 Starting as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley, he worked on deals for individual companies. However, something felt off. While the job was rewarding, Alex wanted to create a bigger impact. He believed education and research could help more than just one company at a time—and boy, was he right! 🧠📚

Moving into academia, Alex became a Professor of Finance at the prestigious London Business School. He also wrote Grow the Pie, a Financial Times Book of the Year, where he argues that businesses don’t have to choose between purpose and profit—they can have both. This idea of growing the pie rather than fighting over its slices is revolutionary in today’s corporate landscape. 🥧🔄

Misinformation: Why It’s a Growing Problem
Misinformation isn’t just about blatant lies, according to Alex. Sometimes, it’s about cherry-picking data. Take for instance, Malcolm Gladwell’s famous 10,000-hour rule. Sounds solid, right? Practice for 10,000 hours, and you’ll master any skill. But Alex highlights that the study Gladwell referenced only applied to violinists, yet it was generalized for all fields. 🎻🎯

This is where the problem lies. We often want to believe simple, black-and-white ideas because they’re easier to digest. But in reality, things are far more nuanced. Alex explains how this “black-and-white bias” oversimplifies truth, leading us down a path of misinformation. ⚖️❌

Integrity in Data: The Key Ingredient
Imagine data is like a recipe. 🥘 The most important ingredient? Integrity. Without integrity, data can be used to paint false pictures. Alex explains that companies often claim to be sustainable or purpose-driven, but the evidence behind those claims is often flimsy. He stresses the importance of verifying data, much like how a police officer must ensure evidence in a case isn’t tainted. 🕵️‍♂️📊

How to Spot Misinformation
You don’t need to be a data scientist to spot misinformation. Alex offers practical advice in his latest book, May Contain Lies, which teaches readers to ask the right questions. For example, was the data taken out of context? Is it relevant to the subject? These are simple, yet powerful tools we can all use to navigate the fog of misinformation. 💭🔍

The Ladder of Mis-Inference
One of the standout concepts in Alex’s book is the “Ladder of Mis-Inference.” Often, we start with facts but then climb up a ladder, making false inferences along the way. It’s like building a house on shaky ground—eventually, the structure will crumble. 🪜🏚️ By being mindful of how we infer things from data, we can ensure our understanding is solid and grounded in truth.

The Importance of Peer Review
Not all data is created equal, and peer-reviewed studies often provide the best checks on misinformation. While peer review isn’t perfect, Alex believes it’s the best system we have. In contrast, popular books or ideas that aren’t peer-reviewed, like Simon Sinek’s “Start with Why,” can gain traction despite lacking rigorous evidence. 📖✅

Final Thoughts
In a world overflowing with information, Alex’s insights remind us that discernment and patience are crucial. As Alex says, “Truth is often more nuanced than we think.” 🧩 So, take a breath, dig deeper, and remember that not everything is black and white.

👉 Action Step: If you want to dive deeper into these concepts, grab a copy of Alex Edmans’ books—Grow the Pie and May Contain Lies. They’re game-changers for anyone navigating the business world today.