This saying bothers me, because it’s often used as a discussion killer. There’s no comeback. The numbers are the numbers, as long as they’re accurate.
But of course, in practice, we rarely are arguing about whether the truth of the numbers themselves.
Instead, we’re arguing about their interpretation, or whether they provide the full picture. We’re debating their relevance, or the degree of impact. These are the types of conversations we should be having.
If we’re tempted to dismiss dissension by saying “numbers don’t lie,” perhaps that’s a strong clue we should dig deeper to ensure the numbers mean what we think they mean.