Paul Jones: Data, Strategy, Innovation

If an Accountability framework creates division and silos, the way it’s been implemented is wrong. Whilst clarification of accountabilities and responsibilities is vital, especially where there is a need for segregation of duties, there should be more of a focus on the interactions needed between people in these roles to achieve outcomes. RACI matrices are an important tool in process design, but here’s the important point: they are used to clarify who does what in the context of the delivery of an end-to-end process. Each step is dependent on each other and consequently each role is dependent on one another. The minute you hear people using their accountabilities as an excuse to avoid collaboration (“that’s not my accountability”, “that’s not in scope for me”, etc) – it’s possible that something’s not quite right. This applies to all types of roles: business, technology, change, data… There is no doubt that formalised accountability is important and needed. But do those who are accoun...

Analytics is more than just numbers.  It's the art of extracting actionable insights from data.   It’s this focus on business insights, that enables you to drive value. What are you doing to look beyond the numbers and drive actionable insights? #ActionableAnalytics #Analytics #DataAnalytics #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataValueBytes

Would you like to know a simple trick to quickly improve the effectiveness of your Data & Analytics function? This is not always easy to do, but I can guarantee that it works, if you really commit to doing it (and it works in other aspects of business and in life too, if you want to give it a go): STEP 1: Ask yourself the question: if there was ONE THING that I could STOP, or GET OUT OF, with the gift of hindsight, what would that be? STEP 2: STOP IT, or GET OUT OF IT, as quickly as possible. And that's it! (You can of course make a list of things you want to stop rather than just identifying one thing - but it's always a good idea to identify a priority and focus on it until it's done, before moving onto anything else). That might sound easy, but often it isn’t. I bet you could think of a few things you would stop now if you had the choice, so why are you still doing them? Maybe stopping them just doesn't seem like a priority? Or the effort involved seems too much ...

Architecting data solutions for scalability and flexibility is crucial for driving transformative value.  Failing to do this, will cost you far more in the long run, and will lead to missed opportunities. What are you doing, to make sure you are designing your data solutions to be flexible and extensible? #DataArchitecture #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataValueBytes

" THE DATA QUALITY HOSPITAL " is the third chapter of the book, "The Data Garden (And Other Data Allegories"). SYNOPSIS: In the middle of a Data Quality health pandemic, you are appointed to lead the Data Quality Hospital, and must work out what is working and what needs to be improved to deal with the various issues data people have, reviewing the hospital’s processes from triaging new data health issues, through to delivering different treatments and implementing preventative measures. FIRST PARAGRAPH: “The Data Quality Hospital operates within the Data Country, so its patients are all data people. You’ve been put in charge of the Data Quality Hospital and it needs your help. There’s an overwhelming number of cases flooding in and the numbers seem to be going up. Fears are stirring about a potential data pandemic and something needs to be done to get on top of the ever-increasing volumes of data quality patients.” DATA MANAGEMENT LESSON 3: Data Quality Management ...

What does great Data leadership feel like? Have you ever experienced this before?... ...From Day 1, it was obvious that the newly appointed Data Leader was the right person for the job. They immediately engaged with senior leaders across the organisation, to understand their needs. Every person they met was impressed by the way they listened and demonstrated both their understanding and their ability to offer options for ways forwards. They engaged with their new team, to understand what was working and not working; to assess skills and aspirations; and to establish management structures for effective communication, with clear prioritisation and direction. They had just the right level of technical capability to lead, balanced with people leadership and stakeholder engagement skills. Within weeks, everyone could “feel” the difference. There was a clarity of VISION. Everyone knew where they were going. There was clarity about PRIORITIES and PROGRESS. Everyone knew where they were and wh...

"THE DATA GOVERNANCE COUNTRY" is the second chapter of the book, "The Data Garden (And Other Data Allegories)”. SYNOPSIS: After years of data corruption and ever-increasing problems for the people of the data country, a new Data Government is elected to turn things around. As the Head of the Data Government, you get to work on plans to implement each part of your Data Government manifesto, from data policing to data innovation. FIRST PARAGRAPH: “In this Data Country, the people are data. The data people each have their own individual characteristics: some are highly skilled and work in productive jobs that contribute to the economy and society; others may be less qualified but perform tasks that are totally essential to the running of the country; some are entrepreneurs that take steps to innovate and generate new value through business. There are also some who are less useful and make fewer contributions to the Data Governance Country. Worse, there are a small minority ...