Building A Data Culture

A key shift in adopting data for decision making across an organization, is the shift from tracking data as an "MIS" or dashboard AFTER the fact, to using data to CHOOSE certain paths/ actions beforehand.

Challenges may differ across organisations but some of these barriers are universal in my experience:
1. Believing in gut feel over data because they know the market
2. Being afraid of failure because the old way has been working so far
3. Training has been homogeneous rather than customized to roles
4. Making a leap to “will I lose my job because of all this automation?”
5. Data will be transparent for all to access, rather than controlled through reviews
6. No time to spend on learning new ways

Making any transition successful requires:
1. Capturing data that’s accurate and credible
2. Explaining how this data helps a department achieve its KPIs
3. Demonstrating this through use cases
4. Continually capturing adoption and change in metrics
5. Setting achievable goal posts through the year
6. Creating champions within each team

Capturing data correctly, using the right models, methodologies, frameworks and tools is only one part of the puzzle. Backing it up with detailed cultural transformation plans is equally important.