From Data Chaos to Clarity: A Leader's Journey to Data Literacy

My Data Disaster: A Cautionary Tale of Putting the Cart Before the Horse

AI this, AI that - it's the buzzword on everyone's lips these days. But have you ever stopped to wonder what's powering all this artificial intelligence? Spoiler alert: it's data. Massive amounts of it, created every single second.

We're talking billions of tweets, trillions of online purchases, quadrillions of sensor readings - you get the picture. It's a data tsunami, and everyone's scrambling to catch the wave. But here's the million-dollar question: are we ready to surf this data deluge, or are we just gonna wipe out?

That's exactly what I found myself wondering as I sat in our company's boardroom, heart pounding with excitement when big boss walked in and annouced we would be enabling data driven decisions via new shiny tool, all bells and whistles, ready to revolutionize our business.

Our CTO is practically bouncing off the walls. It's like getting a Ferrari before even learning how to drive. Cool, right? Well, not so fast!

Let me take you on a wild ride through my own data adventure – a tale that might just hit close to home for many of you out there.

The Great Data Fumble

We did what many overeager teams do – we dove headfirst into the deep end of data exploration.

We formed a crack team, started slicing and dicing data, and threw it all into Tableau for some fancy visualizations. We were like kids in a candy store, trying to solve every business problem ever mentioned by Business.

Here's the kicker: we started with a solution and then tried to backtrack to find a problem it could solve.

I know, not the smartest move, but hey, we live and learn, right? It's like buying a hammer and then walking around the house looking for nails to hit. Spoiler alert: This approach rarely works out well.

For six long months (that's practically a lifetime in the business world), we were essentially fumbling in the dark.

The business folks were constantly asking us to show the magic which this wealth of data could provide – you know, the magic we had promised with our powerful new tool.

The Data Disaster Unfolds

Let me paint you a picture of our data disaster:

1. We created these super fancy-looking reports for finance, marketing, and forecasting. But guess what? Every department that looked at them came back with different requirements. It was like we were speaking different languages!
2. We ended up creating a ton of different reports just because everyone saw the data differently. Talk about a waste of time and resources!
3. We kept working and reworking the same data sets over and over again. It was like being stuck in a data groundhog day.
4. We were trying to provide solutions without even knowing what the real problems were. Classic case of putting the cart before the horse. Obviously we thought we knew all the problems.
5. The data we were trying to use? Half of it wasn't even captured correctly or stored properly in our database. It was scattered all over the place like a digital jigsaw puzzle.
6. And don't even get me started on data quality. We had no rules, some basic standards. We had basic data to have proper IT system, but never with a vision of enabling business for important data driven decisions. 

We had this supercomputer of a solution, but we were using it to calculate our grocery bills. Talk about overkill and underwhelming at the same time!

The Lightbulb Moment

Then, after nearly a year of frustration and probably a few facepalm moments, during our retrospective meeting, it finally clicked.

The lightbulb went off, and we realized what was missing – DATA LITERACY! 

We needed to build a foundation of understanding before we could even think about leveraging advanced data solutions.

We literally had to take a step back and ask ourselves some basic questions. Like, 

What does "customer" mean for different departments? 

Who's the right person to help us understand our data dictionary? 

How do we even read this stuff?

This experience taught us a valuable lesson that many companies take years to figure out: starting with data literacy and building a data culture is like laying the foundation before building a house. 

It might not be as exciting as jumping straight into advanced analytics, but it's absolutely crucial for long-term success.

The Data Literacy Journey Begins

So, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work:

1. We started by bringing awareness to all levels of employees about what being "data-driven" actually meant. No more buzzword bingo!
2. We sat down with the big wigs – Directors, COO, CEO, Department heads – and documented what each piece of data meant to them in business terms. It was like creating a Rosetta Stone for our company's data.
3. We created a data catalog or dictionary. We made sure everyone was on the same page about basic stuff like "Who is our customer?" and "What's the difference between an claim amount and an estimated claim amount?"
4. We defined what good quality data looks like. For example, we realized that our website data for quote conversions was being skewed by our own staff using the system for testing. Talk about shooting ourselves in the foot!
5. We educated our IT team and business folks that any new idea needs to consider how it would impact our data dictionary and what new data points we'd need to capture from beginning rather than feature or product going live when its too late. 

Here's how we shook things up: 

Every time someone came up with a shiny new product idea, we hit the brakes and called a pow-wow with the data nerds. Yep, you heard that right - no more rushing headfirst into projects!

We'd sit down with the data team and the folks who'd actually use the reports, and we'd hash it out. "What's the real benefit here?" we'd ask. "And how the heck are we gonna measure it?" It was like a brainstorming session meets reality check.

The goal? Make sure we weren't just collecting data for the sake of it, but actually grabbing the good stuff that'd help us make smart decisions down the road. No more shooting in the dark - we were gonna be data-savvy from the get-go!

It might sound like a pain, but trust me, it saved us from so many headaches later on. Plus, it got everyone thinking about data from the start, which was pretty cool.

The Sweet Taste of Data-Driven Success

All this hard work started paying off. Remember my boss who was dead set on implementing his favourite idea? Well, I managed to convince him to run an A/B test for 8 weeks to collect data on various data points. To his surprise (and my secret delight), his idea had the lowest hit rate, while the other ideas converted way better.

This was a game-changer. It shifted our whole mindset to backing every idea with good quality data that could support decisions and be tracked later. It even helped us prioritize projects better, knowing our IT resources were limited. 

Quick Fact : A whopping 83% of CEOs want their organization to be data-driven. 

We’re all trying to stay afloat in this wild world of AI and big data. But here's the kicker:

Data literacy might just be your secret weapon to not only survive but thrive in this data tsunami.

The Moral of the Story

Well, Don't put the cart before the horse when it comes to data. 

It's tempting to jump on the latest tech bandwagon, but without a solid foundation of data literacy, you're setting yourself up for a wild (and not so fun) ride, trust me I learnt it the hard way.

Here are 5 key takeaways for any company looking to kickstart their data journey:

1. Start with the basics: Data literacy isn't just for tech geeks. Get everyone on board and speaking the same data language.
2. Define your data: What does "customer" mean to Bob in marketing vs. Sally in finance? Sort out these definitions before you dive in.
3. Quality over quantity: Not all data is created equal. Figure out what good data looks like for your business.
4. Align data with business goals: Don't collect data for the sake of it. Make sure it's actually useful for decision-making.
5. Make data part of your culture: From brainstorming sessions to product launches, get everyone thinking about data from the get-go.

These are just the tip of the iceberg, folks. Each of these points could be a whole chapter in your company's data playbook. We could dive deeper into strategies for building data literacy, creating a company’s data playbook, tips for creating a killer data dictionary, or ways to weave data thinking into your company's DNA. But that's a story for another day!

So, here's the deal: embarking on your data journey is like learning to cook. You don't start by buying every gadget in the kitchen store. You learn the basics, figure out what flavors work together, and gradually build your skills.

Remember, as my old buddy Joe from IT always says, "Data is like a gym membership. It's not enough to have it – you gotta know how to use it to see results."

So, roll up your sleeves, dig into that data, and don't be afraid to make a mess.

After all, that's how the best recipes – and the best insights – are discovered. Now, who's ready to whip up some data-licious decisions?