In which Jill makes excuses for people who make excuses.
Fall conference season has (mercifully) come to an end, and I can finally reflect on what I learned on my most recent tour of industry and vendor events.
(Editorial aside: I don’t know about you but I like Vegas, I love New Orleans, and if I see Orlando again it’ll be too soon. Note to conference organizers as you finalize your 2010 event planning: The Big Easy still needs our cash! Let’s go back. The jambalaya’s on me!)
Anyway, I’ve been speaking and writing a lot about data governance, and presentations at TDWI, SAS, Teradata, and various clients have placed me squarely in the crosshairs of people aiming for effective data governance programs. It’s interesting to hear their questions, particularly as they voice concerns about data governance adoption in their organizations. One question I get in almost every session is a variation of this one:
Alright Miss Fancy Pants, why is it that every time a so-called expert talks about a major business initiative they bring up change management? Why can’t we just launch data governance without all the change management fanfare? Why can’t we just ‘get ‘er done?’
Answer: I don’t know, why can’t you? Or, more aptly, why haven’t you? Not trying to be argumentative here, but 1) my pants are just black wool crepe, trouser-cut, which I think is more understated than fancy, and 2) it’s just that the most effective data governance programs are often also the most disruptive. And, simply put, disruption makes people nervous.
Professor Robert E. Quinn at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business writes about taking people out of their “normal states” (aka, their comfort zones) and painting a picture of what they need to do. In a seminal Harvard Business Review article in 2005 called “Moments of Greatness: Entering the Fundamental State of Leadership,” Quinn described true leaders as ready to “venture beyond familiar territory to pursue ambitious new outcomes.” If that’s not data governance, I don’t know what is.
After all, the “normal state” in most companies often means contradictory policies, multiple versions of the truth, absence of true data ownership, selective collaboration, and decision-making in a vacuum. Data governance is the opposite of all that.
“We couldn’t afford to experiment with data governance,” says Kevin Davis, Director of Research Initiatives at a major southeast retailer. “We retained a consulting firm to teach us the foundational stuff and we followed their advice. That included a lot of deliberate structure, education, evangelizing, and expectations management.” Davis and his team faced the additional challenge of coupling their company’s new data governance strategy with a major MDM technology acquisition. “We knew we only had one shot at getting it right,” he says.
True, it’s easier to avoid sticking your neck out. And in some cultures (particularly in high-tech companies, but that’s another blog post altogether) wholesale changes to policies and processes can actually begin from the bottom-up. It’s not only less disruptive, it demonstrates value to incent widespread adoption. Bottom-up data governance is a legitimate and proven approach. But at the end of the day, your strategy needs to include a plan to broaden governance beyond the initial domain. After all if you’re not sharing data across organizations and business processes you don’t need data governance.
According to Professor Quinn, change happens when someone is “jolted out of his comfort zone…driven to clarify the result he wanted to create, to act courageously from his core values, to surrender his self-interest to the collective good, and to open himself up to learning in real-time.”
Are you ready to get out of your comfort zone? Then maybe you are ready for data governance!
(P.S.: I’m discussing data governance yet again with Initiate Systems CTO Marty Moseley in a December 3rd webcast. Register here!)
Photo by p_x_g via Flickr (Creative Commons License)
Dear Miss Fancy Pants,
We still require formal business attire by every employee, every day of the week. For us, “Casual Friday” simply means a blue dress shirt is permissible, though not encouraged (plain white dress shirt required Monday through Thursday). We still use manila envelopes to distribute all memorandums. The so-called “electronic mail” (I believe the kids refer to it as “e-mail”) is simply a silly trend that will soon pass. We don’t require any change management – our seventy-two levels of middle management and time-tested, well-proven command and control policies guarantee everything stays as it should be and will continue to run smoothly. Our data – flawless. Our business processes – impeccable. Our employees – obedient. Our customers – loyal.
In short, our “normal state” is perfect just the way it is, thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Mister Clueless CEO
P.S. Nurse – I believe it’s time for my pills…
You guys crack me up. Seriously though, the new norm is constant change. There should be some serious change junkies on board (I’m one of those) or better yet do like I do and hire only change junkies. Change Management is never an issue for me:) Today’s organizations need to be really good at managing change (people, process, tools) for data governance or any other corporate initiative if they want to survive.
Bottom line… things change people! Get on board or get off my boat!
Great post!
Good stuff, Fancy Pants.
You could write a book about this statement:
*It’s just that the most effective data governance programs are often also the most disruptive.*
It seems to me that many people are comfortable to keep doing what they’re doing. From what I understand about effective data governance programs, and I’m I certainly no expert, people are going to be held accountable for doing things in different ways. If they stray, then they’ll get slapped on the wrist. At the very least, they’re taken out of their comfort zones. I would suspect that that’s why you see resistance.
Am I right on this or should I just stick to my own comfort zone here?
“Get on board, or get off my boat!” Love that, Jill Wanless. Unfortunately there are a lot of tug boats out there, simply pulling bigger boats along a well-sailed route.
My boat is one of those cigarette boats that goes super fast and only stops for really talented people. And then we speed ahead. (By the way, I’m the tan one in the Ray Bans holding the cocktail as the skipper pushes the pedal down.)
Jim: I KNOW I could TOTALLY write a book around disruptive data governance. Which, by the way, is different than non-disruptive data governance. Which isn’t really working right now if you ask me.
Show me an enterprise-focused effort that’s easy and I’ll show you a temporary fix.
Now let’s all crawl back into our cozy boxes. Or not.
Thanks guys!
Jill
P.S. to Mr. Clueless CEO:
Your dress code of blue or preferably-white starched shirts is a bit anachronistic. I wrote a blog about t-shirts a few weeks ago. Got some flak for it, too:
http://www.jilldyche.com/2009/10/commenting-on-the-comments-on-my-social-media-post.html
You might want to do like those kewl social media consultants did and prescribe t-shirts. It didn’t make their contributions any more valuable, but they looked positively rad.
Jill
Jill – love this post.
We need more change agents, they are an endangered species.
It’s such an essential role but so many companies try and bluster their way through with the big IT push and hope.
I’ve just interviewed a wonderful lady, Mary Gregory, she started out as a psychiatrist working with kids and now coaches exec teams on managing change (a lesson in itself!)
She raised a really simple but powerful point during the interview:
“We have to ask, is this change compelling for everyone? And if not how can we make it so?”
For me, this answers your “why can’t we get ‘er done?” question, unless change is compelling for everyone – we’re on a road to nowhere, come on inside, takin’ that ride to nowhere…sorry, I digress.