On Being Data Driven

What people really mean when they talk about being data driven is that they want use data better than anyone else and make it a competitive advantage.

One of the biggest challenges for an organisation in the information age is how to become data driven. What does it mean to be data driven? Whose responsibility is it to be data driven? The CEO and the company board, or is the Chief Digital/Analytics/Data Officer and their organisation, or is it everyone?

Being data driven, it’s obvious what it means…Right? It is a neat and catchy phrase where the devil is in the detail (where else does she hide). Everyone uses data in almost every corporate job. If you are in finance, you're managing the P&L in a spreadsheet. If you work in marketing, you're looking at reports that have your market share in there. Supply chain is awash with data. If you're the CEO you are probably pulling out the latest sales numbers to show investors your performance. Data is there, it’s everywhere, it’s what drives business.  

 Do we really mean data driven?

At a conference I recently participated in on data driven culture, there was a lot of talk about a number of things that show a business is data driven. Such as, “understands data and analytics, and how they can be effectively used in a business.” And “emphasizes the use of data in decisions” and “constantly seeking new ways to measure itself and it’s environment”. All of these sound like sensible, data driven, things. 

As I heard these phrases something didn’t sit right with me. These are just the normal run of business. Also, some of these things are not entirely healthy for a business. For example, if you are constantly seeking new ways to measure yourself you are probably putting in a lot of graft trying to fix something that isn’t broken. One of the other things that came out of the conference was the results of a survey, that only 40% of companies called themselves data driven. I would argue that 100% of companies are data driven. 

What people really mean when they talk about being data driven is that they want use data better than anyone else and make it a competitive advantage.

So, what is important when we talk about being data driven? Being data driven is more about a mindset or culture then just using data to run your business. It is up to each organisation to define what it wants to be with data. If you say you are “data driven”, what you are really saying is you really just want to be like the rest. The really data driven businesses should determine a slogan or rallying cry that really say what they want to do with their data, analytics and their overall business. Companies should define their ambition and say what they mean, such as they want to be “data leaders”, “data pioneers”, “data demigods”. 

Data Driven (demigod) Culture

Apart from just defining an ambition it needs to be embedded in the culture of the organisation. There are some foundational items that need to be in place for this to happen such as: 

·      Senior level sponsorship (through being more than data literate, being a data enthusiast and asking people to be data enthusiasts and, importantly, freeing up investment to help the organisation move to an enthusiast)

·      Being clear on who owns the data driven (or rather data demigod) agenda. For example, the CFO or having a Chief Analytics Officer or Chief Data Officer, with a clear remit and clear targets that can be measured and assessed. While they own the agenda, key opinion leaders through the organisation need to be champions e.g. Regional President, country GM, business leaders

·      Providing a clearly articulated data strategy, expectations and plans to the entire organisation is important. If you are using Power BI and the current state of reporting is going to be it for your sales numbers, call it like it is and tell people where the money is going to be spent in the next quarter, 6 months or year to further the data driven agenda

·      People in the organisation need to be educated on what is expected of them and how to use the data to hand. As new data comes into the organisation it needs to be clearly articulated where it fits, particularly if it’s not locally sourced or a global initiative

·      Communication is key. Apart from people being clear on the macro (enterprise wide) and micro (Loc or local function or team) data approach, there needs to be real, tangible, and regular examples, of what good looks like; hopefully some of these are scaled examples and not just small quick data wins that impacted a small part of the business

One company that has put its’ money where its mouth is, is TD Wealth, the wealth management unit of Toronto-based TD Bank group. It created a program called “Accelerate Change Through Technology” to try and get senior and mid-level executives excited about what data and technology can do for their business. This was a huge investment from the company where participants attended sessions at MIT, Silicon Valley and in the UK. They studied not only new technologies but also the open banking movement. Participants had various assignments throughout the five-month program and even participated in a hackathon to develop new apps. The trips were memorable, but the bulk of the program involved expert-led instruction and hands-on and immersive workshops to build customer empathy, understanding emerging tech, and practice pattern recognition to spot trends and opportunities ahead.

Once some of these “more simple” initiatives are in place or something more daring like TD Bank, you can start to see a culture emerge. But it is important to remember that culture takes time. Being a Data Demigod is not going to be solved with a quick win, it is going to take repeated wins and concentrated effort and investment. Ultimately it will stop being an “initiative” and it will be part of the normal course of business. 

The world will move on to the next big thing after “Data”, but the fact is data has been around since dinosaurs started falling into the ground and leaving fossils for cavemen to find. The data challenge won’t go away, it will morph. So whatever data culture you start to build now, it will have to meld with your larger cultural ambitions and it will need to be a way of life. So, you may as well get the ambition in place now and get the foundations to build from.

Request

I am looking for examples of what outstanding data driven behaviour looks like. If you have any to share or know others who do can you send them my way?