Don't Blame "Culture" for Data Governance Failures
"Culture" -- whatever that means -- is often accused of being the corporate killer of innovation. People kill a data-driven strategy and other reasons yours is failing by Lisa Morgan repeats a similar accusation with respect to the difficulties associated with "making" organizations "data-driven."
My colleagues and I have been digging into what makes changing how data are managed and analyzed so much of a challenge. One thing is clear: attributing such resistance to "culture" is an oversimplification. You can't change how data are managed and used without rolling up your sleeves and intelligently addressing a combination of both tactical and strategic challenges.
An important aspect of our approach, for example, is an initial focus on how data and metadata are used in human-human, human-machine, and machine-machine communication. Also, attempting to impose a data governance solution via a top-down basis for many organizations, especially those with siloed legacy systems and processes, is likely to failure if you (1) over-rely on technology-based solutions, (2) attempt too much at once, and (3) fail to focus on business process change as well as technology.
A well-defined process that is explicitly aligned with the organization's goals is critical. Scroll down for links to articles that address this in more detail, or go here.
Copyright (c) 2017 by Dennis D. McDonald. Contact Dennis in Alexandria, Virginia by phone (703-402-7382) or by email (ddmcd@ddmcd.com).
