{"id":50273,"date":"2021-06-22T09:36:36","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T08:36:36","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-06-22T12:04:07","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T11:04:07","slug":"leadership-data-driven-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-gb\/industry\/blog\/cross-industry\/2021\/06\/22\/leadership-data-driven-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"The role of leadership in a successful data-driven culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ARecently, the topic of creating a data-driven culture is becoming more prominent and leaders are wondering how to create one in their organisation. However, before we can discuss the how, we need to talk about the what. After all, what does a data-driven culture even mean? It sounds great, but how do leaders know when they have one? And come to that, why do leaders need one?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s dissect this a little. Firstly, what is culture? It\u2019s quite an ethereal term and one I have often struggled with. Someone once shared a simple definition that resonated with me: Culture is \u201cwhat you do when your boss isn\u2019t watching\u201d. Culture is something ingrained into how you work and think, which is important. You can\u2019t simply say you have a culture as an organisation. You must live and breathe the culture.<\/p>\n

And what do we mean when we say data-driven? It\u2019s not about collecting all data. In fact, lack of data isn\u2019t a problem for most organisations! However, what they often struggle with is extracting value from that data. Therefore, what we are really talking about is decisions that are driven from data. Because we use the data to inform and justify our decisions, it needs to be good quality.<\/p>\n

So, a data-driven culture is one where the organisational norm is that decision making is driven by data. How can leaders successfully build this culture? If we look at the journey to a data-driven culture, I think of four steps.<\/p>\n

1. Create the right mindset for a data-driven culture<\/h2>\n

\"TwoTo me this is the most crucial step \u2013 leadership must be clear. I don\u2019t just mean that leaders need to talk about using data. Leaders need to demonstrate how they place data at the heart of what the organisation is trying to achieve every day.<\/p>\n

In order to thrive, leaders must be clear about what their organisation\u2019s purpose and outcomes are. A great way to create accountability and direction is to tie those purposes and outcomes to measures of success.<\/p>\n

At Microsoft, we use an approach called Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)<\/a> to organise and align our activities to transform. The focus on key results inspires a data-driven mindset across the organisation. It also provides a common data driven focus and language for everyone in the business \u2013 we all start to think about the measures that matter.<\/p>\n

\"Rule<\/p>\n

2. Find organisational and individual value in a data-driven culture<\/h2>\n

When looking at driving change I have to say that unfortunately we, as humans, can be a selfish bunch. Often, one of the biggest drivers of successful change is understanding what is in it for the individual. Within Microsoft we apply the PROSCI<\/a> change methodology. At the heart of this is the ADKAR<\/a> change model. There is the adage: organisations don\u2019t change, people do. ADKAR is an acronym for five elements of change for individuals:<\/p>\n