Six Cultural Levers to Make Your Firm “Data Informed”

Another closely allied lever is the “metrics and measures” we have in our organisations; they drive behaviours. “What gets measured gets done”; if we track opportunities and the last actions, people will move their opportunities forwards; if we measure billable time, individuals will focus on recording billable time.

For events and mailings, if we track the opportunities generated, individuals will focus on ensuring opportunities come out of the activities. Pinnacle and Weightmans both showed the measurement of anticipated revenues in the pipeline. With the right data, we showed it’s possible to forecast revenues month by month, six or more months out.

The key is we need to measure the right things. There was a great story in WWII about returning bombers being inspected in the war and the data showing that the fuselages were peppered and so work started on reinforcing these elements of the planes. The issue was that the sample was only returning planes – it was those that had been shot down or struck elsewhere that was more critical. We need to make sure we choose the right samples and measure the right things to get the results that we care about.

Manipulate structures to make the firm see data through the right pane of glass

For me, it was less clear whether centralisation is the best way to create change or not. There were advocates for creating centralised objects – warehouses, data lakes and having centralised data stewards.

On the other hand, ownership of data sits with the business. There are clearly economies of scale and standards are easier to put in place with the control that centralisation brings. Having a centralised team will bring order where there is disorder, but it can also make individuals and teams feel data responsibility has been taken away from them.

Our Data Quality Monitor tool is designed to allow centralised supervision with localised responsibility for data maintenance. Changing the organisational structure will change the way a business sees the world; it changes the culture.

Use symbols with an emotional weight to prompt actions more effectively

Coming back to the cultural model, changing the organisational structure is a lever for change – creating a data governance team is symbolic. It says data is more important than it was before but there are other symbols we can also manipulate. In a previous life, as a law firm BD professional, I wanted lawyers to focus on the clients we hadn’t had business from in a while.

As a firm, our clients had been classified as either “active” or “inactive” in our systems. We changed the statuses to current, decaying, and former – “decaying” is a good emotive word. I wanted them to either accept the client is going to become a former client, or we need to pick up the phone to restore the relationship.

Turn your reports into the engines that drive routines

Another theme Pinnacle highlighted was how, today, reporting can be so different. With the right technologies, we can make it easier for those we are presenting data to, to act upon it. Reports no longer need to be static things that are sent for your information. They can be “for your action” and you can take the action from within the reporting solution. Using the tools in this way pulls on the rituals and routines as well as being very symbolic. It says very clearly “It is your responsibility to act upon this and there are fewer things in the way of you doing so”.

“Perfection is the enemy of progress.”

My big takeaway was to “have a big picture in mind” – everyone has a big ambition around using data. We all want perfect data but should compromise with better data. It is hard to get a handle when it is scattered throughout organisations. Much of it is entered by different people, some of whom won’t really use it and therefore don’t really understand its significance. Then strategic decisions, like mergers with other firms, suddenly set you back by 10 steps.

Having a guiding star – a strategic nirvana with a culture that promotes the use of tools and structures which help you keep or get back on course, allowing for the assimilation and verification of data but also shining a light on the data issues in systems by using it day-to-day – will ensure that it is cleansed to the level that it needs to be.

Telling the success stories will create drivers and champions for continuous improvement. In essence, the real goal isn’t making your business “data led” but, as someone put it, “data informed” and a “data actor”.