When other people tell you who you are

Who tells you what your data team should be?

Because here’s the frustration I hear. Data leaders are exhausted by the whims and requests of business teams who think a data team should be a report factory.

It’s a perennial frustration for data leaders.

Like shoveling snow in a Michigan winter.

Or like trying to keep your house clean while raising kids.

Is there an end? How do you fix this?

There’s one fundamental disease under this symptom.

You let other people define what data means and what the data team should be.

Instead of defining what you believe your data team should be.

They think you are data cleaners. Chart builders. Query writers. Spreadsheet wizards. Database optimizers.

And yes you might do all those things, but that’s not who you are.

Your identity has been hijacked and there’s only one way to reclaim it.

Define your purpose and strategy for why data exists at your organization. And ruthlessly commit to that purpose and strategy.

Your purpose is why you exist.

Your strategy is how you show up.

Are you going to define that for yourself? Or let someone else pick it for you.

I’m glad you are here,

Sawyer