“When people start to believe in data, it’s a game changer: they start to change their behaviors, based on a new understanding of all the wealth trapped beneath the surface of the systems and processes.” Ted Colbert
But it is not an easy challenge. Cultural constraints and changing the game during the flight require stakeholders’ decisions to make it feasible. Believing in data and making it support the strategic and tactical-operational process requires enterprise compromises. It requires interdepartmental relationships to provide their data and systems to externalize the data as strategic information to be consumed and analyzed. It is not only a one-day-night work.
What is the reality and effort to make it feasible? How much will that cost? How long time will the organization be involved with? How will the peopleware be impacted and postpone the results by fear, lack of compromises or not being engaged with the company goals (or not historically being involved with)?
How will the board (and the business) be impacted if the digital transformation is not implemented?
There are a lot of important questions to be considered and answered. Otherwise, recognizing data as a source of profit, increasing it, managing it, strategically using it, and breathing and pulsing with and for it will change the future of the business.
Let´s start with? The first step is definitely to know the data representing the business strategy. The second step is finding the data representing the business’ tactical-operational visibility. These two steps will provide the basement (re)organization to direct systems and resource evolution (and/or investments). These will be not-so-easy challenges, as I started writing here. The process, from marketing, sales, operation, client relationship, probably, financial and HR, operational, and IT will be influenced and influencing the pathway during the digital transformation (re)establishment.
Another point of view: the data won´t be the results. The data will provoke people to rethink the business profitability and directions. People will always oversee understanding and evaluating data, strategically defining the next steps, and alerting to non-conformities. Strategic analysts and focused managers are always necessary. Do not forget, anyway, the company´s clients and their expectations.
Tip: try to start defining each department’s pain and profits, evolving from them!
