cherry-picking

(verb)

To pick only a part of the whole truth, often in order to support an opinion or personal agenda. In analysis, it is seeing what one wants to see in the data (as opposed to what's there).

Related Terms

Examples of cherry-picking in the following topics:

  • Analytical Mindset

    • In a world with this much data, maintaining objectivity and refraining from cherry-picking to prove one's opinion is a very important skill.

  • Operations management provides competitive advantage!

    • The old approach of providing this service was cumbersome and time-consuming: (1) Customers had pick up their computers, (2) delivered the computers to Toshiba, (3) Toshiba repaired the computers, (4) picked up the repaired computers and delivered them back to the customers.
    • The new repair process is much more efficient: (1) picks up computers from Toshiba owners, (2) repairs the computers, (3) delivers the computers back to their owners.

  • Materials Handling

    • Material handling also can consist of sorting and picking, as well as automatic guided vehicles.
    • These include capturing all relevant data related to the warehouse's operation (such as the stock keeping unit (SKU)), measuring how many times an item is "touched" from the time it is ordered until it leaves the building, making sure you are using the proper picking technology, and keeping system downtime to a minimum.

  • It's not just good business, it's the law

    • Indeed, the day may soon come when products – and their packaging – will be tagged with a toll-free telephone number or a bar code so that they can be identified and picked up at the end of their useful life for reuse, remanufacturing or recycling purposes.

  • Operations Management

    • UPS picked up the repaired computers and delivered them back to the customers.

  • Internet Retailers

    • In-store pickup: The customer orders online, finds the closest local store using locator software and picks the product up there.
    • Will call, in care of box office (ICOBO), or "at the door" pickup: The patron picks up pre-purchased tickets for an event, such as a play, sporting event, or concert, either just before the event or in advance.

  • Warehousing

    • ., racking), manage the stock within the facility, and enable a seamless link to order processing and logistics management in order to pick, pack and ship product out of the facility.

  • Flextime

    • A working mother might choose to work from Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. so that she can be home when the children return from school (or pick them up).

  • Complications of Globalization

    • The destruction of natural resource pools through corporate exploitation is relatively common, and the propensity to sell products that are clearly unhealthy has picked up across the globe (i.e. fast food, alcohol, cigarettes, etc.).

  • Centralized versus decentralized organizations

    • So how does an owner begin to digest and pick between all the choices (function, product, process, project or matrix structure, flat versus tall, centralized versus decentralized) available when it comes to organizing a business?