Fostering Data Culture To Drive Value. The Essence vs The Power.
Hi, I'm Paul and I write blogs to help process the thoughts in my head... :-)
AKA, the musings (post series link) of a slightly grumpy, battle hardened data engineer, technology strategist and enterprise architect.
Context
Peter Drucker's famous sentiment that "culture eats strategy for breakfast" came to the forefront of my mind recently when delivering a Value Discovery phase of work for a customer. At the time in really resonated with me and highlighted the influence an organisations culture can/does have over even the most meticulously, well thought out data strategies.
While a robust data strategy is essential, it is the nurturing of a data culture and the adoption of data product thinking that I realised truly drives transformational outcomes for businesses. In this blog post, part of my musings series, I want to delve a little deeper into why focusing on data culture and data product thinking is far more effective than simply crafting and executing a data strategy in relative isolation.
The Essence of Data Strategy
I’ve come to appreciate that a data strategy typically encompasses the vision and roadmap for how a business will capture, manage, analyse and use its data to achieve its objectives. Basically, informing business decisions through a data driven approach. This strategy involves setting goals, defining processes, implementing (sometimes popular) technologies, and establishing governance frameworks. However, despite good planning, many companies seem to struggle to realise the full potential of their data strategies. A gap that often arises not from flaws in the strategy, but from cultural resistance and insufficient buy-in from stakeholders. To clarify, I’m not assigning blame, I’m simply sharing my experience in the hope that we have a growth mindset and can overcome the pain together.
The Power of Data Culture
When thinking about data culture, in a business context, I mean to the shared values, beliefs, and behaviours that shape how work is done and how people interact within a business’ available datasets. A strong data culture aligns employees towards common goals and fosters an environment where innovation, exploration and collaboration thrive. When applied it ensures that data is not just an afterthought, but a fundamental part of the decision-making at every level in the business.
But Why Does Data Culture Matter More, Matter Most?
Given the above context, let’s try and tackle the hard question of ‘why’ data culture is so important, or why it matters most. Feeling a little like Seraph from The Matrix. “Protecting that, that matters most!” Sorry, film references rackling around my head. Back to it… Here is a distilled view on what I’ve experienced to answer this:
Engagement and Adoption: A well-crafted data strategy can only succeed if the team, business users, stakeholders etc, are engaged and committed to it. Which isn’t always a natural pathway. A data culture fosters this engagement by embedding the importance of data in everyday activities and decisions. Assuming technology can facilitate it.
Adapting: The business landscape is likely to be constantly evolving, and so must its data strategy. A strong data culture equips employees with the mindset to adapt and refine strategies as needed, without waiting for initiatives from leadership.
Collaboration: Data initiatives often require cross-functional collaboration. A culture that values data encourages departments to work together towards shared goals, breaking down silos that can hinder data insights.
Conclusion
While a solid data strategy is essential, it is the culture that gives life to that strategy. By fostering a data culture and adopting data product thinking, businesses can unlock the full potential of their datasets. Driving value and informing decisions in a very natural way. As natural as human culture and regional differences.
For me, and for now, remembering the words of Peter Drucker, "culture eats strategy for breakfast" has ensured that a data culture always takes priority over the data strategy when facilitating the delivery of value for my customers.
What do you think? I would really like to know. I’m often on the frontline of technical leadership and architecture design decisions. So, I’m stepping outside my comfort zone a little here when exploring data strategy, data culture and adoption.
Many thanks for reading.
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