Ep. 248: Connie Siu - The Importance of a Data Driven Culture

Join host Adam Larson and special guest Connie Siu, President of
CDC Synectics Inc and an author, as they unpack the complexities
of building a data-driven culture in the business world. Tune in
to this episode to discover the essential characteristics and
challenges of fostering a data-driven environment within an
organization. Adam and Connie provide valuable insights and
practical advice on overcoming obstacles, assessing
effectiveness, and turning data into informed decisions. Get
ready to explore how a data-driven culture can revolutionize your
approach to business!


Full Episode Transcript:
 < Intro> 


 


Adam:           
Welcome to another insightful episode of Count Me In. Today,
we're delving into the topic of building a data-driven culture
with our esteemed guest, Connie Siu, President of CDC Synectics
Incorporated, and an accomplished author. Join us, as Connie
shares her expertise on essential elements of data-driven culture
within an organization, and the significant impact it has on
today's business environment.


 


Stay tuned, as we explore key challenges faced during the
transition, and gain valuable insights on assessing the
effectiveness of a data-driven culture. This episode promises to
offer valuable insights, into the power of data-driven
decision-making in shaping organizational cultures and driving
business success. Let's get started.


 


< Music >


 


Well, Connie, we want to thank you so much for coming back on the
Count Me In podcast. And, today, we're going to be talking about
data-driven culture and what that means. And, so, maybe, we can
start off, you can elaborate what constitutes having a
data-driven culture within an organization, and why is it
essential, especially, in business today?


 


Connie:         
 That's a great start, Adam. Data-driven culture is
the consistent values and beliefs in distilling insights from
data to drive informed decision making, and that's happening
across the whole organization. And I would offer three
characteristics that you can look for, in an organization, where
there's a data-driven culture. The first one is you will see
individuals and teams actively asking themselves questions like,
"What information we can draw on to support and guide decisions."


 


You will see consistent efforts devoted to pull relevant data to
analyze an issue. And you will see open and frank dialogues on
understanding the root cause of a problem by looking closely at
KPIs.


 


In terms of why it is essential for businesses today, there are
four factors, two external and two internal, that are important
to bear in mind. The first external factor is the competitive
marketplace. Companies need focused strategies to target the
right markets, to differentiate themselves to compete, and they
need the market intelligence to develop focused strategies.


 


The second external factor is digital transformation. The ability
to adopt the right technologies to drive business outcomes is
critical. Successful digital transformation involves using
technology to capture relevant data and analyze the results. To
automate processes, for instance, companies need to know what
data is important and what's not.


 


The internal factors: The first one is operational efficiency.
Businesses need to be efficient today, and we are aware that
costs are going up, labor, materials. And with the current
inflation, companies need to have a good handle on the numbers.


The second internal factor is the need to treat data as a
strategic asset. Every business has tons of data. Imagine if you
can mine the data for intelligence, they will uncover lots of
opportunities to make all kinds of improvements, such as
targeting high-margin niche markets. So these four factors
require an appreciation of making smart choices from data
analytics. It is more important than ever, to build a data-driven
culture.


 


Adam:           
Yes, I think those are some great factors to take into
consideration, especially, if you recognize that your
organization doesn't have that data-driven culture. Maybe we can
talk about some key challenges that organizations face when
they're trying to transition to that. Because it's not something
that happens overnight, something that you can turn a switch and
say, "Hey, we're a data-driven culture." It's something that
builds over time, I'm sure.


 


Connie:         
 Yes, there are two key challenges I'd like to
share. The first one is the lack of technical capabilities. And
when I say technical capabilities, they include the skills to
identify what data, or KPIs, are relevant to look at. They
include skills to analyze the numbers. For instance, how do you
know you have achieved efficiency improvement?


 


What would you look at to monitor process performance?


 


Do you want to look at the results on a weekly basis or it makes
better sense to compare month-over-month changes? And there are
many data points you can look at, but not all of them are
relevant.


 


Once you have the data, you need the tools to capture, compile,
and analyze them. And many companies are still using legacy
systems that are not integrated. So it is a tedious and often
very frustrating exercise to extract the data.


 


And to overcome that lack of technical capabilities, start with
training. Training the fundamental skills on asking good
questions to identify what data do we need to look at. Training
on the skills to analyze an issue. And I would suggest training
everyone from the executives to people working on the front line.


 


We don't need to train everyone to be a data scientist, but we do
need them to have the basic skills to ask good questions. To
understand what they need to look at, and become good problem
solvers. And in terms of the legacy systems, there's only so much
you can do patching them. Eventually, you need to invest in
modern technologies, and there are so many options out there
today, and there's no need, and I want to emphasize this, it's
not necessary to invest in the most comprehensive ERP. The key is
to find the right applications that meet your business needs.


 


Now, the second challenge I'd like to talk about is the lack of
buy-in. When you don't have the support of the senior management
team and the middle managers, it is very difficult to make that
shift.


 


Now, middle managers are accountable for the team's performance.
So that fear of poor results is natural because they reflect on
their leadership skills, and no one wants to look bad.


When middle managers shy away from results reporting, they tend
to do the minimal, just what is needed. Essentially they create
an alignment where there's little incentive for the team to
embrace analytics.


 


Now, when we look at the senior management team, when there's no
buy-in, from them, on analytics, you tend to see an authoritative
management style. Top-down decisions will become directives for
the teams to execute. And in this situation, the efforts made on
analytics are not valued at all.


 


To overcome the lack of support, start with understanding what
the dynamics is today and find your champion. That champion could
...