Being “Data-Driven” (But Not in a Good Way)
This is a four-part series.
Part one: Deriving actual value from data
Part two: Being “data-driven” (but not in a good way)
Part three: Aligning People, Process, and Data
Part four: Data Synergy For Business and IT
Being “Data-Driven” (But Not in a Good Way)
Written by Jeff Gleason
We dare you to find a company today that doesn’t shout from the roof-tops, “We’re data-driven!” or “We’re data-first!”.
But what does that actually mean?
According to Randy Bean and Thomas H. Davenport’s Harvard Business Review article, “Companies Are Failing in Their Efforts to Become Data-Driven”, being data-driven has
“been a commonly professed objective for many firms over the past decade or so. Whether their larger goal is to achieve digital transformation, “compete on analytics,” or become “AI-first,” embracing and successfully managing data in all its forms is an essential prerequisite. Consistent with these goals, companies have attempted to treat data as an important asset, evolve their cultures in a more data-oriented direction, and adjust their strategies to emphasize data and analytics…progress toward these data-oriented goals was painfully slow, but the situation now appears worse (post from C-Level Survey 2019) ”
Companies clearly articulate a desire to be “data-driven” today. However, they have lost sight of the fundamental elements of success in achieving that goal. Confusing goals, strategy, and outcomes into a singular mash of “data-driven” techno-speak, companies quietly struggle leveraging data in a manner that drives value.
Investment Without a Return
As noted in the 2019 NewVantage Partners survey (in conjunction with Harvard Business Review) of over 60 large industry-leading companies (C-Level respondents):
“Companies are investing in Big Data and AI, but they are not seeing commensurate results. Though 62.2% report measurable results from their Big Data and AI investments, less than half say they are competing on data and analytics (47.6%), have created a data-driven organization (31.0%), or have forged a data culture (28.3%). The implications are significant.”
We certainly are a data-driven culture, but shouldn’t we be knowledge-driven instead?
Foundational Framework As a Solution
Let’s suspend the objective of being “data-driven” as the primary outcome to see if we can’t arrive at a better end-state to drive more success beyond the numbers reflected above. For starters, we need a foundational framework built on solid components that, when outlined, looks like something like this:
If written out with details, it might look something like this:
I want my company to make all decisions based on a validated knowledge of my business and industry (Outcome).
To gain this state of knowledge-based decisions, I must gather collective human experience and integrate it with all the data and information deemed appropriate to succeed (Strategy).
To support knowledge-based decisions, crafting an environment that facilitates the access, trust, communication, and security to those decisions is paramount (Process).
As defined by the business objectives, data and information delivery become paramount for both business and IT to pursue jointly - which may (will) result in organizational change, education, and communication (Goal).
Put another way - the goal should be to change organizational behaviour, tools, and processes to support delivering “the right stuff” that enables the business to achieve strategic success based on knowledge-based decisions.
“Knowledge-driven” seems much better than just being “data-driven”, doesn’t it?
How successful would Napoleon have been if he opted for a “sword-driven” approach rather than the “divide and conquer” strategy he used during the Battle of the Three Emperors?
(He won by the way).
Taking this down a level, we must alter our drive to store data first regardless of its use. Rather, we must apply an understanding of how the business wants to consume it and provide that infrastructure.
Why doesn’t this happen today? Lack of a data strategy. The data strategy, which we will go into more detail in the next post, provides the foundational framework for IT and Business to interact and build value-driving analytic ecosystems.
If you need help reviewing your existing drive to store data without a firm grasp on how to process it, send us a message. We can help.