Why Culture Is the Greatest Barrier to Data Success

 

To compete in the current digital economy companies must become more data-driven. It is important to have critical data to drive decision making. 

Despite increasing investments, very few companies are data-driven and very few treat data as a business asset. 

The greatest barrier to data being recognised as an asset is the company culture, ie., people and process. Cultural change and business transformation must be adopted at all levels for data to be accepted as an asset. Certain actions would ensure that data gains its importance in an organisation and decision making.

Secure top management commitment, not lip service.

Top management commitment is essential to build a data-centric culture. Many companies acknowledge the criticality of data in their annual reports and mission statements but do not implement in the company's decision making. Data must be collected and processed from every aspect of the business to focus on data as one of the critical inputs to decision making. Companies must create a culture where data is a priority and make the necessary investments to drive real change and data-driven outcomes.

Work hard, forget magic bullets.

Companies must understand that forging a data culture is a relentless pursuit and must be undertaken continuously. Being data-driven is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. 

• Start simple and focus on key business factors. 
• Connect data to business outcomes. 
• Enable quick wins to build credibility and establish momentum. 
• Define use cases with strong management support. 

Companies that accept that there is no easy path to success do better over the long haul. 

Establish realistic goals.

Set up realistic and achievable objectives for data adoption. Data is an asset that flows across the organisation and hence managing it is complex. It will be impossible to achieve successful outcomes unless organisations set reasonable targets for creating a data-driven organisation.

Make steady progress, overcome false starts.

Many organisations want to see immediate results and this impatience often leads to false starts where the investments are made and then abandoned when results are not immediately visible or it is not followed through across the organisation. The manager responsible for data-driven initiatives should be long term to ensure continuity and ensure stability and consistency in the leadership and approach to maximise the return on their investments in data.

Learn from the experience of others.

Most companies are evolving from a product-centric view to customer-centric view and organising around data is something new for companies. They would benefit from understanding what other companies have done so that they can avoid the pitfalls and replicate their success. Continuing what has been started is important. Keep an open mind. Learn from the experience of others, their success and failures. Look beyond your company for success models

Maintain a long term view

Achieving this change toward making data central to decision making is a long process, a journey. Consistency, steadfastness, patience pay off in the long run. Companies that set reasonable expectations, set a clear course reach their destination faster. Develop a plan, create a data strategy, make sure it is updated at regular intervals to reflect the changes in the industry. Define the future, prepare a clear road map, maintain a long term view and stick with it making periodic course corrections. 

Change means finding new ways of doing things.

Organisations must evolve and change their ways to become more data-driven. Companies who recognise that competing with data and analytics requires them to embrace change will be better positioned to realize the benefits of a data-driven culture.

Why Culture Is the Greatest Barrier to Data Success

Randy Bean MITSMR 2020/09