Hello! I’m Mark Horseman, and welcome to The Cool Kids Corner. This is my monthly check-in to share with you the people and ideas I encounter as a data evangelist with DATAVERSITY. This month we’re driving data projects. Have you ever been on the precipice of starting a major data project and wondered, “Where do I begin? What the heck are we doing? Who’s doing what, when, where, why, and how!?” This month we’re going to dive straight in and, ultimately, we’ll see what the Cool Kids are saying.
Early in my career I was tasked with constructing an operational data store to help manage reporting out of a brand-new enterprise system. I worked closely with an individual who, later on, transitioned from a data professional to become a teacher. Together, we aimed to align the reporting requirements of our environment with the data collected in the new system. We quickly learned the deficiencies between what was needed for decision-making and how the actual data was structured within the new enterprise system. This experience left me with valuable “battle scars” – lessons learned about the intricacies of data management.
It was years later when transitioning jobs that a close friend of mine gave me some words of advice: “People don’t hire you for the skills you have, but your experience wielding those skills. They are paying for the things you’ve learned by the mistakes you’ve made over your decades of experience.” This isn’t just true of data, but in any set of skills over a career.
However, when it comes to data, many folks have done many things with data and have had successes and failures. It can be daunting to start a brand-new data project. If you don’t have years of success and failure under your belt, knowing how to get initial sponsorship and buy-in, kicking off a project and scoping a project can be a challenge. Anything you can do to enhance your knowledge or benefit from the experience of others is helpful.
What are the Cool Kids saying about data projects? Our featured Cool Kid is Christine Haskell. Her recently published book, “Driving Data Projects: A Comprehensive Guide,” touches on all these topics. She provides step-by-step methodologies – from getting it off the ground and managing it to shifting the organizational culture over time. There is a clear “next step” for how to drive data projects effectively in any organization, regardless of its sector or maturity level, while also demonstrating how to overcome the overwhelming feelings of where to start and how to not lose momentum.
What I appreciate about this book is how practical it is. To highlight that, the back of the book has a ton of resources, including almost 20 worksheets. The book does an excellent job guiding the reader through how and when to use these, and how they might be adapted to the unique needs of their organizational cultures. There is no dogma – everything is a suggestion. An organization can take this book and use it as a foundational resource for existing learning and development trainings to upskill teams, or as a guide to enhance a working group’s process and find success.
Another aspect I’d like to touch on with this book is the gentle reminders throughout about the importance of ethics. Early in the book Dr. Haskell includes a “data oath,” setting the tone for our personal accountability as effective data advocates in the data supply chain. There are callbacks to an ethical foundation at each stage of the methodology (versus only at last-mile delivery), ensuring it is considered, discussed, and part of the decision-making process. Ethics must be intentionally kept in mind at the forefront of our processes when working with data, as it relates to the well-being, safety, and security of people we strive to do good for.
Dr. Haskell’s “Driving Data Projects” makes the ideal practical implementation guide for specialized data work; like Danette McGilvray’s “Executing Data Quality Projects: Ten Steps to Quality Data and Trusted Information™” or Bob Seiner’s “Non-Invasive Data Governance™.” Haskell’s method helps you understand how to prepare your organization for change, nurture stakeholders through the process, and build lasting mechanisms to sustain change.
Check out the other amazing things Christine is doing:
Remember that you can meet Cool Kids like Christine Haskell at DATAVERSITY events:
Want to become one of the Cool Kids? All you need to do is share your ideas with the community! To be active in the community, come to DATAVERSITY webinars, participate in events, and network with like-minded colleagues.
Next month, I’ll be sharing some thoughts on humanizing data strategy. Stay tuned!