#  Introduction   Every organization loves to call itself "data-driven." It's become the gold standard of credibility, the thing you say to shut down dissent in a meeting. But here's something worth sitting with for a second: the phrase " according to data analytics " can come from two very different places. One is genuine curiosity. The other is someone who already knows what they want and went looking for a number to back it up. And the weird part? Both of those people end up pushing for the same decision, using the same language, sitting on the same side of the table. That coalition is more common than you'd think, and it has a name.   Back in 1983, regulatory economist Bruce Yandle introduced a concept he called "Bootleggers and Baptists." The idea came from an observation about Sunday alcohol laws in the American South. Baptists pushed for those laws on moral grounds. They believed restricting Sunday liquor sales was the right thing to do.…