Leveraging the Value of Your Data

Over the past year, I have been working on a special project to develop a Data Integration Strategy with a focus on leveraging the value of organizational data to promote data driven impact with both internal and external stakeholders. The project has been an amazing journey of learning and connecting with subject matter experts to absorb their best ideas and approaches. The project recently reached a major milestone and it was a good opportunity to reflect on what I have learned over the past year. So some thoughts that might resonate with others on a similar journey.

The project was designed to address the following three data challenges: Data is hard to find, hard to manage and hard to share. This situation is blocking innovation, adaptation and impact. In talking with other colleagues in diverse other organizations, it seems that these challenges are common. In looking to address these challenges, here are some of the things that I have learned through this project;

1. Digital transformation = data transformation. Digital transformation is fundamentally a data challenge that can effectively promote better data driven impacts and data driven decisions.
2. Data is a critical strategic asset and is often the second most valuable asset in any organization, the most valuable being people. Most organizations recognize the need to invest in our people, less so in our data management strategy. To our detriment.
3. Both of these assets are intangible and will not be found on the financial statements or on the balance sheet, yet both are critical to fostering organizational impact. During this project, we discovered innovative ways to measure and describe the value of our data assets to help focus attention on the magnitude of the issue.
4. Data challenges are 80 % people issues and 20% technology issues. The easy way out is to only focus on the technology - but the digital/data transformation comes from understanding the people-oriented data processes. In particular focusing on fostering a vibrant corporate data culture and investing in data literacy: the ability to understand, manage, share and manipulate data.
5. Data culture is a real thing. Solving the data challenges unleashes the potential for true innovation, agility and organizational responsiveness that contributes to organizational impact.
6. The solutions are a fraction of the cost of the value of the data and the potential disruption-losing mission critical data can cause. A number of studies by major consulting companies suggest that we spend approximately 20% of our time searching for data. That alone justifies the investment in better data management, data literacy and data culture.
7. Having an organizational data strategy has enormous corporate strategic benefits in providing; focus and direction, promoting data-driven decisions, enhancing the value of organizational data through integration, increased access, use and collaboration, all while promoting a culture of innovation, leadership and partnerships. All of which leverages the value of data and impact.
8. Lastly, is the recognition that data driven impact and the capacity to leverage the value of our data is not the job of the CIO and/or the CDO, but is a core strategic management responsibility for everyone in the C-suite on down. The CIO/CDO can provide support and guidance, but the day-to-day action comes from understanding, commitment and active investment of real resources (people and budget) from all of senior management.

Are there risks in undertaking the development of an organizational data strategy? Of course there are. There is a need to build commitment and consensus. To understand where you are and where you need to go. To create a sense of vision and mission that links data to culture and ultimately build community and excitement around the implementation. This is not new stuff - what is new for many organizations is focusing on data culture, data management and data literacy as core organizational capacities. We understand the need to focus on people to enhance organizational impact with our stakeholders; however we now need to understand and focus on how to leverage the value of our data to create truly remarkable data driven impact.

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I am sure there are a lot more lessons to be learned from this project - but these are the ones that come to mind as I reflect on the past year. I would not have missed this for anything in the world. To have come to an understanding of the intrinsic and extrinsic strategic value of data, the ability to leverage that value and contribute to data driven decisions and organizational impact has been transformative for me. Data Driven Impact - the next frontier!