As an executive leader, you have to make strategic decisions that shape the direction and performance of your organization. But how do you ensure that your decisions are based on reliable feedback and data, and not just on intuition or assumptions? In this article, we will explore some of the best practices and tools for using feedback and data in strategic decision making.
Feedback loops are essential processes for collecting, analyzing, and acting on information from various sources, such as customers, employees, partners, competitors, and the market. These loops help you understand the needs of your stakeholders and the strengths and weaknesses of your organization. Furthermore, they allow you to measure the impact of your decisions and adjust them accordingly. To create effective feedback loops, you need to define relevant goals and metrics, use multiple channels to gather feedback, use data analysis tools to identify patterns and trends from the feedback, communicate the feedback to your team and stakeholders, solicit their input and suggestions, implement changes based on the feedback, and monitor their effects.
In my view, feedback and data hold significant importance when it comes to making strategic decisions. I have personally found that feedback loops offer valuable insights regarding the desires and expectations of those involved, thereby empowering us to make well-informed choices. By thoroughly examining information gathered from diverse sources and employing efficient methods of communication, we can detect recurring patterns and emerging tendencies. This allows us to implement necessary adjustments and keep a close eye on the repercussions of our decisions, ensuring consistent growth and alignment with our objectives.|
When leaders craft their organisation's strategy they have to make a number of guesses. Data is the difference between making an "informed" or "leap-of-faith" guess. Either way, these guesses get codified as a "strategy" or "strategic decision." Wise leaders acknowledge that this strategy is mutable, and focus on the two vital feedback loops, namely what their market and industry are "telling" them back.
Using standardized frameworks is helpful when setting up your feedback loop. It should be the first thing you decide. Are you using SMART objectives? OKRs? In the world of software development, the first question the devs have to ask themselves is: How will this be deployed?. So for your objectives, your first question should be: How will I know if this works? Your feedback loop should be built-in to your objective. As an executive, OKRs are probably the way to go because your entire organization needs to be aligned to the goals you set.
Creating a data-driven culture is essential for making decisions based on evidence, rather than opinions, biases, or habits. To do this, you need to lead by example and show how you use data in your decisions. Additionally, you should provide access and training to data sources and tools for your team and stakeholders. To further foster a data-driven environment, you should reward data literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Moreover, it is important to create a safe and supportive atmosphere for asking questions, challenging assumptions, and making mistakes. Lastly, it is important to celebrate and share the successes and learnings from data-driven decisions.
I believe that feedback and data play a pivotal role in strategic decisions. By fostering a data-driven culture, I have witnessed firsthand how decisions based on evidence lead to better outcomes. Through leading by example, providing access to data sources, and offering training, I have empowered my team to utilize data effectively. Moreover, rewarding skills such as data literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving, while creating an environment that encourages curiosity and learning from mistakes, has been instrumental in harnessing the power of feedback and data. Ultimately, celebrating successes and sharing the insights gained from data-driven decisions ensures continuous improvement and a competitive edge.
Really, "data-driven culture" is more about informed decision making. Don't harp about data, but rather focus on extolling the benefits of using data in all its glorious shapes and forms. Yes, that includes both quantitative and qualitative data. We are not robots, and our personal, lived experience is data is well. We ought to reject calls to ignore "opinions, biases, or habits", and learn how to understand them so we can make better decisions.
Building a data-driven culture is probably the most important thing someone can build in Industry 4.0. An often overlooked element is to have a strong data governance. The costs of keeping all your data all the time are astronomical and not all data is created equal. Common questions to ask are: 1- How long am I legally obligated to keep this data? 2- Can I roll up the data or do I need every single datapoint? 3- What is my DR and backup strategy? 4- What technologies can I use to keep down the costs? 5- Does my company need a data lake, data warehouse, data mesh or something else? 6- What is the security in place to protect my data? Hope for the best but plan for the worst. A data breach could cost you the entire company...
Data visualization is the art and science of presenting data in graphical or visual forms, such as charts, graphs, maps, and dashboards. It can help you make sense of complex and large amounts of data by highlighting the key points, patterns, and relationships. Additionally, it can help you communicate your data and decisions to your team and stakeholders in a more engaging, understandable, and persuasive way. To use data visualization effectively, you should choose the right type and format of visualization for your data and audience. Make sure to use clear and consistent labels, titles, legends, colors, and scales. It is important to avoid clutter, distortion, and misleading representations of data. You should also use interactive and dynamic features to allow exploration and customization of data. Finally, tell a compelling story with your data visualization that includes a clear call to action.
Visuals are the easiest means of exploring data and finding new insight hidden within! Humble scatter diagrams and histograms can easily trigger further inquiry; mosaic plot is a great way to chart markets; qualitative customer's value profiles can be easily compared using simple lines...
Data science is the storytelling of tomorrow, which you need today. There are a lot of free courses on data science that are available. As part of building a data-driven culture, most departments should have data champions assigned with helping to establish this new mode of operation AND to show the value of this data. A data champion is a role which someone can take and doesn't have to be a new headcount and they should work side-by-side with your security champion.
Data ethics is an important set of principles and practices that guide the responsible and ethical use of data in decision making. It ensures that decisions are respectful of rights, privacy, and dignity, as well as fair, inclusive, and beneficial. To adhere to data ethics, it’s essential to follow relevant laws, regulations, and standards for data collection, storage, processing, and sharing. In addition, informed consent and permission should be obtained from data subjects or owners. Furthermore, data should be protected from unauthorized access or misuse. Conflicts of interest or biases should be avoided or disclosed so that potential risks or impacts can be acknowledged and addressed. Ultimately, using feedback and data in strategic decision making is a must in order to make informed, effective, and ethical decisions for your organization.
Anonymise the data as much as possible. Use it to improve the customers' condition, as well as your organisation's. Cause no harm. Don't buy personal data from suspicious sources. Easy, right?
You should have a strong policy in place. There are a lot of variations around the world from a legal mandate perspective but a good rule of thumb is: Would I want my data to be handled this way? What happens WHEN I am breached? It's only a matter of time before you are. Be proactive and not reactive in this area. Your reputation is on the line.
Part of a data-driven culture is to also have a security and ethics culture. Every member of your team should be protective of your data but not at the expense of your operations. The rule of thumb should always be: Do I want my private information handled this way? If the answer is no, then you have to put a plan in place to protect yourself. It's a lot easier to lose your reputation than it is to gain it back.