Florence Nightingale is remembered as the founder of modern nursing—but apparently, she was also a brilliant communicator.

In the 1850s, while working in British military hospitals during the Crimean War, she noticed something alarming: more soldiers were dying from preventable infections than from battle wounds. Poor sanitation, overcrowding, and contaminated water were quietly doing more damage than the war.

She kept meticulous notes. But when she tried to explain what was happening, those in charge didn’t take her seriously. They dismissed her warnings—until she showed them a picture.

Nightingale created one of the world’s first infographic-style charts—a visual display of death rates over time, shaped like a pie chart with color-coded sections. It was easy to understand at a glance… and impossible to ignore.

That chart didn’t just make her point. It inspired reform of the entire British medical system.

The principle still holds true today.

In business, we often assume people understand the information we give them. But if our message isn’t clear, the facts we present don’t matter a whole lot. Communication isn’t just about saying what we mean—we have to make sure it lands.

Today’s Peace of Wisdom can be found when we realize data only drives change when people truly understand it.