Data drives everything these days, including cars. The message that the consumer is being mined for Data, giving up privacy in order to enjoy a service, is a well-trodden path. Data starts with the individual and fans out from there, covering our social fabric, our experiences and delivering structural, actionable signals for businesses to fuel their growth.
Data is to businesses what eggs and bacon are to breakfast. Not only a great way to start the day but providing fuel and energy for purpose.
What’s surprising then is that some businesses are so nascent in their approach to exploiting captured data and converging on a data strategy for future needs. Exploiting sounds dirty, and ultimately in most cases, it is not, but it is exploitation because it comes at the cost of privacy; anyway, it leans towards the second dictionary definition; the action of making use of and benefiting from resources.
Before we go any further, I think it’s worth explaining what I believe a Data Strategy (in Capitals) is. A data strategy is understanding what Data is currently available to you and to what quality, in other words what useful data do I have. The next part of said strategy is what data can I collect right now if I wanted to and what useful purpose might it serve for my business. Finally, if I had no constraints, what Data would I really like in the future that I don’t have access to.
Better to be unconstrained
It’s important not to bracket your future Data Strategy by what you believe may be available; better to be unconstrained; this will help you look for opportunities to fulfil your strategy rather than be closed off and myopic. Also, to be clear, the scope, quality and accessibility of Data is likely to change over time, so this is a moving target and, as with all aspects of your strategy, open to frequent adjustment and change.
There are probably a few analogies to be taken between a good Data Strategy and the benefits of education in society. Providing structure and purpose, teaching simple lessons about the world; a day zero pay off. Creating thinking minds who can, with a willing heart, contribute to the betterment of human existence. And lastly, collectively, benefiting all of society through knowledge, this being the final part of your Data Strategy.
It might be enough to end this post here, letting your mind explore the wasteland of an uneducated mass of self-serving individuals versus a well organised, educated population with agriculture and tools working together. Which of the two would you prefer your business to be?
But let’s not jump off the bandwagon just yet; otherwise, we might miss some interesting points.
When I’m thinking of Data Strategy, and I’m going to put this out there, that you’re very similar to me in this respect, you think about the Data you can possible horde. You’re thinking of your business, its benefit and what a corpus of data might do for you. It’s a simple enough elephant trap to wander into.
What might an “industry” benefit from sharing amongst its participants?
As part of your Data Strategy, you should think about what Data can be shared outside of your organisation. What insight might your buyers benefit from? What efficiency might be gained by a supplier earlier in the value chain by having a better view of forward demand? What might an “industry” benefit from sharing amongst its participants?
Becoming Data-centric doesn’t mean becoming egocentric; a good strategy looks not just forwards but also sidewards. This sideways look is very specific to the industry or vertical you operate in, where processes and approaches may be more or less mature. Depending on the state of digitisation, you can start to value the benefit and weight adjust your actions.
The right way to think about exposing Data.
I like analogies so let’s use one here; a digitally nascent industry can be thought of as a person with only one item of clothing on. You really don’t want to show too much more of yourself at this point because you’re very close to being naked, which anyone who has been naked can attest to feels like you’re exposed and potentially weak. A more digitally mature industry can feel like a person with several layers on, where taking off a jumper can show a little more, without becoming vulnerable or exposing all the inner workings.
What I’m counselling here, aside from dressing sensibly for the situation, is that a Data Strategy, where we started at the beginning of this article; about what’s available, at what quality, etc, should also be articulated in terms of what you know about your competitors’ and overall maturity of the sector.
A note of caution, a seemingly evolved Data play you might have, may not stack up so well compared to other, faster-moving players in the same sector. Data is time series based; the less you have of it, the harder it is to exploit, and there it’s very hard to catch up with capturing history. What I’m saying here is that this is very important. Both in terms of the realisable benefit compared to others and, from where I started, how much you should share with others (Sharing Data is important because it enables increased efficiency).
I hope that’s given you something to think about. I’m going to go back to my eggs and bacon now; they’re getting cold.
