The Data Daily
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5 days a week since May 1st, 2023.
The mind is a dangerous place.
pre-s: Do you have a clear purpose and strategy for your data team and how it fits in your organization? Next week on Sept 10th, I’m hosting a 4-hour workshop to give you the confidence and direction you need to lead with data. You will walk away with a clear purpose for your data team and a vision for how to prioritize and execute.
——————-
Our biases and assumptions are littered like landmines across our work life - just waiting to catch us off guard.
A fundamental way this shows up? How we interpret outcomes.
Did you have a great outcome with that data project?
It probably sounds like this:
“What a great hire I made.”
“What a great project leader I am.”
“We worked really hard.”
“Our team is really technically skilled.”
We credit our skills. Pat ourselves on the back. This is the default position for good outcomes.
Did you have a bad outcome on the data project?
It probably sounds like this:
“That person lied during the interview. How could I have known?”
“The executives weren’t patient enough and pulled the budget early. We never got to finish the first phase.”
“The product we chose for our data platform couldn’t do the things we needed it to. It set us back months of work.”
“The software team was a constant bottleneck and couldn’t deliver us the data needed on time.”
We blame bad luck. Let ourselves off the hook.
This is our default position for bad outcomes.
All of the above quotes could be accurate to reality. But they also very heavily weighted toward one side.
Whether you have a great outcome or abysmal, the true cause is very likely in the middle between luck and skill. Your great outcome was influenced by several elements of luck. Your bad outcome was influenced by several aspects of your lack of skill or poor choices.
The problem with our natural bias to blame luck or skill is that we miss key learnings. We don’t accurately acknowledge the importance of things outside of our control. Or we fail to understand ways we contributed to poor outcomes.
Look back over the last 6 months and identify a good or bad outcome that occurred. How did you interpret that event? More luck or skill? What biases are evident in your thinking?
How could you reinterpret that event with a more balanced view of the role of luck and skill?
I’m here,
Sawyer
You were wondering about this.
I’ve been talking (and you’ve been reading) about my upcoming workshop on September 10th.
It’s a 4-hour live and interactive event where you will build a strategy for your data team including a clear definition of success, details about what progress looks like, and a framework for making decisions.
Here are some of the top things you might be wondering:
Who’s this workshop for?
The people who will have the best experience are those who are focused on data and are in a leadership role in their organization. Titles like VP of Data, Director of Business Intelligence, Head of Data Engineering, and Manager of Analytics.
What should I expect during the workshop?
Expect lectures, whiteboarding, discussions, and individual exercises where you get to apply the insights to your team.. Show up ready to do work and interact with the experience.
Can I bring specific questions about my data team to answer during the workshop or will it be all lecture?
If your questions and challenges relate to the work we are doing in the workshop, then I’d encourage you to ask. If you have specific questions about technologies, design, or architecture questions that won’t benefit the whole group, I’ll ask you to save those for another space.
Could I just watch the recording later?
No, it’s a live session and the power of the experience is interacting in real time with me and the other attendees.
Will I receive the templates and worksheets mentioned in the agenda?
Yes, you will receive a copy of the materials so you can follow along with the work we are doing.
How will the workshop address different team sizes and industries?
In spite of differences in team size and industries, there are a lot of shared challenges of data leaders. We will focus on the core similarities while also making space to explore specific ways things might be different for your organization.
I can’t make this one. Will there be another?
Maybe, but I’m not positive. If you are interested, I encourage you to join this cohort.
How do I register?
So glad you asked. Thedatashop.co/hpdt
Other questions? Hit reply and I’ll get back to you directly.
I’m here,
Sawyer
How to build a data culture that feeds your soul and mission
In this episode of Making Data Matter, we sit down with guest Emily Hicks-Rotella - Data & Technology Strategist at Make Tech Work For You
You will gain insights into:
How to understand and develop a data culture at your non-profit.
What are key principles for adult learning tech and data
How to approach program evaluation and data with humility and courage
Practical ways to develop a Data Tech role at your organization
and more.
Listen Here: Thedatashop.co/mdm
What would a strategic vision do for your team?
What if you don’t attend my 4-hour workshop on setting the strategic vision for your data team?
Here’s why you might do that:
You’ve got it dialed in and your data team is thriving.
Leadership is fully behind your data initiatives and embraces the work you do
Your North Star as a data team is clear and compelling to everyone.
If that's you - congrats. I love hearing wins. Hit reply and tell me more about it.
But often there is something different happening with the data leaders I talk to.
Your team faces constant turnover.
Your best people leave before you are ready, and getting budget approval to replace them is painful. Quality candidates are skeptical during the interview process because they can sense the confusion and struggles your team is facing.
You are overly reliant on the whims and requests of the stakeholders around you.
Your identity isn’t defined by what you believe your data team should be. Instead, you let how the rest of the company sees you define what data means and how important it is.
You just trust your gut to make the best decisions
How successful are those decisions? You don’t know because you haven’t bothered to track progress or assigned a direction you are headed.
I can’t promise you will make perfect decisions, that everyone in your company will start loving data, or that your talent retention will become easy. But I can promise that this 4-hour workshop will increase your capacity and confidence as a data leader.
In this workshop, you will
Get a framework and strategy for defining success for your data team
Clearly define how to track progress toward that success.
Learn how to identify and define data-driven decisions that will influence your success.
It’s a one-day event on Sept 10th.
I’m only offering 10 spots, and once they’re gone, they’re gone.
I’m here,
Sawyer
How to get unstuck from the mire of executing, troubleshooting, and political in-fighting.
High-performing data teams know what success is, how to measure it, and how to execute with precision to get there.
That can be you.
After attending my 4-hour workshop, here’s what the future could look like for you:
—> Focused clarity on a single direction of success for your data team (not Minimal progress in dozens of directions at once)
—> Confidence about your progress toward your goals (not Confusion about progress)
—> Renewed focus for prioritizing your team’s work (not Scattered requests and moving targets)
—> Decision-making frameworks for optimal results (not ad hoc decisions with mixed results)
—> Renewed Energy from your team around tangible progress (not an exhausted team stuck spinning their wheel)
Which one do you want?
You have choices about what you want your future to look like and how you want to get there. This 4-hour workshop helps you create a strategic vision of success.
It lays the foundation for a future where you can execute with confidence. A future where the morale of your team is at a record high because they have a sense of purpose in their work.
Leaders set the vision and define the strategy for their team. However, most leaders get stuck in the mire of executing, troubleshooting, and political in-fighting. Getting your head above the noise lets you set a strategy and plan for a different sort of future.
In this workshop, you will
Get a framework and strategy for defining success for your data team
Clearly define how to track progress toward that success.
Learn how to identify and define data-driven decisions that will influence your success.
It’s a one-day event on Sept 10th. Full details here.
I’m only offering 10 spots, and once they’re gone, they’re gone.
I’m here,
Sawyer
How would I know if this is a good deal?
I love a good deal.
Buying a car. Buying a book. Tickets to a concert. A happy hour appetizer.
I’m a sucker for a deal.
Well, Sawyer (you might ask), how do you know a good deal?
Two options
Is it cheaper than the regular price or comparable items?
Am I confident I will get more value out of it than it costs me?
I am hosting a 4-hour workshop for data leaders on September 10th. I wanted to walk through why it’s a good deal using these two decision-making criteria.
Working with a data consultant typically costs $1,000 or more for several hours of their expertise. This workshop costs $150.
What’s the value of actionable strategy for your data team?
What’s the value of a decision-making framework you can apply to your work that same week?
What’s the value of key progress markers so both you and your leadership know about your success?
If you are like the dozens of other data leaders I’ve spoken to this year, then the value of these items is far above zero. In fact, it is likely to deliver tens of thousands of dollars to your organization.
You get four hours of focused and simplified tactics, tools, templates, and exercises to build a new set of strategic muscles for you.
We cover topics no one else in the data space is talking about but are fundamental to your success as a leader.
That’s how much a seat at this workshop costs. It’s a launchpad to take you to new tiers in your leadership with data.
I thought about my own deal-loving self and decided to price this workshop at a “heck yes” price point. I love great deals and have a feeling you do, too.
I’m here for you,
Sawyer
That feeling of being ignored
As a data leader, do you feel ignored by leadership?
When it comes to
budget
project approval
adoption of new tools
recognition for your great work
attempts to influence data culture
Do you feel like your requests just fall on deaf ears?
Do you know who else feels that way?
Joe from accounting
Sharon from marketing
Darryl from sales
Simpson from warehousing
Brittney from engineering
Andy from HR
Juan from Customer Support
Will from.... well no one is exactly sure what Will actually does.
In short.
Join the club.
Everybody feels ignored by leadership when their project doesn't get approved or their amazing new innovative idea is pushed until the next quarter.
The primary way to get the attention and buy-in from leadership:
Reliably define and measure your team's success
Connect that success to the rest of the organization's objectives
Consistently communicate updates about that success.
Iterate on the above three points as needed.
This is your pathway for your data team to get the attention, buy-in, and recognition from leadership.
I’m glad you are here,
Sawyer
Incredibly insightful and practical
“Your frameworks for thinking about data teams and their maturity and place within an organization were incredibly insightful and practical.”
That’s what Samantha, a Data, Strategy & Program Manager in Healthcare, said to me after she worked with me on a similar coaching program.
When you are lost in the noise of a complex work environment, dynamic corporate structure, and perplexing technical challenges, getting clarity is both challenging and more important than you think.
Leading a data team can leave you feeling like someone dumped a box of puzzle pieces across the floor. The business team wants this. Execs what this. Cloud team requires that. My direct reports need this.
And how the heck is data supposed to actually help the business in the end?
That’s why Sam’s comments matter so much.
A clear and practical framework for thinking about data goes a long way to helping the puzzle pieces fit together
If your goal is to get out of the noise of leading a data team and find clarity and confidence in how you lead with data - then I made something just for you.
I’m hosting a 4-hour live workshop for you. You will walk away with a clear purpose for your data team and a vision of how to prioritize and execute.
Based on my experience helping dozens of data leaders, I am betting that confusion is costing more than you care to admit.
Details for the workshop are here.
I have only 10 seats so if you want in, now is your chance to reserve a spot.
I’m glad you are here,
Sawyer
Expertise is leverage
A client hops on the call with me.
"I've been trying to figure out this data issue for a couple of weeks, can you help?"
30 minutes later we mapped a key pattern to solve the challenge.
She sighed and said, "Whew, that seemed really easy".
——————
Was it actually easy?
Depends on who’s doing it.
Expertise is leverage.
Expertise can make things that are wildly difficult for one person, seemingly easy for another. The fastest way to solve is a problem is by accessing the right expertise.
How long would it take me to replace AC unit at my house? Days. How long for an expert? Hours.
The right tools, equipment. right expertise and experience creates leverage.
I talk with data leaders every week. They share their key challenges with me. Over time, I see patterns from their success and failure. Similar themes constantly come up.
“Leadership doesn’t support any data initiatives”
“I can’t get past the noise of all the data things people are asking for”
“Stakeholders are impossible to please”
“My goal of building out a new data platform is taking forever because the business has so many data request”
“Every time I got to leadership to ask for more head count I get ignored.”
“My leadership isn’t technical. They won’t even try to understand what I’m working on”
These are the messages I get weekly in my inbox.
They seem like huge challenges. And they are.
Until you apply leverage.
Getting the right expertise, at the right time, saves you time, money and sanity.
I’m here,
Sawyer
The majority of your success is defined by this.
What will you learn in the Measure Success Launchpad - Workshop?
As a data leader, much of your time is spent making decisions.
In fact, the majority of your success is defined by the decisions you make or don’t make. I find so often that data leaders don’t have a clear framework for decision-making, which makes these decisions feel like they’re being made by chance. Why would you leave that to chance?
What does an effective decision-making framework look like?
Defining decisions that matter to your success goals.
Identifying the factors that go into optimal decisions
Applying templates to understand the expected value
Modeling the data to provide you with the insight you need
Imagine having the key decisions that are most crucial to your success deconstructed into actionable items that you can evaluate and execute.
And that's just one part of the 4-hour workshop.
This live, 4-hour event is happening on Sept 10th, and is designed just for you - a senior data leader.
Learn more and claim your spot today.
Limited to just 10 participants.
I’m here,
Sawyer
Stop talking about the problem
I hear it from potential clients.
I’ve heard it from past clients.
I hear it in my own head.
“Stop talking about the problem. Do something about it!”
One of the first things I do with clients is an assessment. It’s a simple tool I use to quickly get to the heart of what’s happening with their team and tech. When I require clients to start with an assessment they sometimes push back - “We don’t want to just talk about the problem. Let’s do something about it”.
“Bias toward action” and all that, right?
The caricature consultants get a bad rap for charging 5, 6, or 7 figures to deliver a PowerPoint deck at the end.
That’s not a problem with assessments. That’s a problem with the consultant and the expectations of everyone at the beginning.
Here’s why assessment (and roadmap) are a crucial early step:
Guessing at the problem and just getting to work is far more expensive than talking about the problem upfront (You know what they say about assumptions). It’s way less risky to start small. Before signing big contracts, see what the experience, relationship, and results are like during a small assessment.
But here’s the main reason:
You can’t fix what you don’t understand.
You can’t understand what you haven’t defined.
You can’t define something you didn’t know existed.
Talking about the problem might be exactly what you need. Only then will you be ready to take precise and strategic action.
I’m glad you are here,
Sawyer
An opportunity to walk away with a clear purpose for your data team
After dozens of conversations with Data Leaders here and on Linkedin, one thing has become painfully clear.
Data teams can’t excel without a sharp vision of success.
But that vision for success is so foggy for many data teams. We want to matter to the business. We want data to inform decisions. We want to be strategic advisors. We want to partner with organizational outcomes.
So why are we constantly stuck responding to bug fixes, hearing rejection of our budget proposal, and seeing another hand-crafted data product ignored?
It starts with the strategy of how you view your data team.
A strategy is the unique way that you show up in your organization. It describes why you should be there, and how you increase value to those around you.
Today, I’m launching registration for a 4-hour workshop that focuses on establishing this core foundation of your data team. To give you a framework and strategy for how you will show up strategically in your organization.
You will gain a vision for success on your data team. You will walk away with a clear purpose for your data team and a vision for how to prioritize and execute.
The workshop is on September 10th. Full details here. I’m only offering 10 spots, and once they’re gone, they’re gone.
I made this for you,
Sawyer
Making 1% improvements with data to change lives
In this episode of Making Data Matter, we sit down with guest Sam Elliott - Director, Data and Analytics at Calgary Homeless Foundation
You will gain insights into:
Innovating with data to improve real people's lives
Navigating the challenges of data collection and data management for various programs and services
How to measure progress and KPIs for serving people experiencing homelessness.
How to increase the maturity of data in an organization that's ready to be data-driven
and more.
I’m here
Sawyer
Why we can't prioritize or execute with coherence
After talking with dozens of data leaders this year an eerily similar message is surfacing.
Noise and distractions are killing data teams.
It's easier than ever to build something. Buy something. Install something.
It's harder than ever to define what you should build and how it matters.
AI makes it easy to build stuff. AI offers no help defining what to build.
We are perpetually trapped in a chaos of our own making. Lost in the hype of graphs, OKRs, KPIs, Metric Trees, and SaaS-mania.
We track too much crap.
Consequentially, we can't prioritize or execute with coherence.
Two key things are required to change this pattern.
Get remarkably clear on what success means for your data team.
Ignore everything else.
This isn't easy by any means. It takes diligence from data leadership to ruthlessly commit to a vision of data.
What is the cost of not doing this?
Team morale tanks
Talent leaves
Leadership doesn't buy-in on new initiatives
Leadership starts ignoring you
Projects don’t get completed, objectives aren’t met
It’s a vicious cycle.
—————-
If you want to break this cycle and build a high-performing data team here’s your chance to do something about it.
On Sept 10th, you can join a 4-hour live and interactive workshop to empower you with a defined purpose for your data team and a vision for how to execute that vision.
This is a one-time offer and I don’t know if I will do it again.
I made this for you,
Sawyer
I’m so biased about my business
Remember how I told you yesterday about how reasonable and rational I am about the future of my business?
Well, here’s a story about how I ignored that upfront rationality and let overconfidence step in.
Several months ago I was speaking with a peer in the industry. Another entrepreneur who was early on their business journey as well. He asked a pointed question: “How confident are you that your company will make it?” I paused for a minute. “I’m 90% confident this business will be successful,” I replied. The conversation continued on and I didn’t think much of that statement. But the next week when my wife and I reviewed the kill criteria for the business I remembered that statement I made.
Why exactly am I 90% confident this business will work?
So I did some research.
Roughly 80% of new consulting/professional services companies close in their first year in business (According to Bureau of Labor and Statistics). Another 20% close over the next two years. Overall, 50% of businesses fail to make it 5 years in business. What reason do I have to think my business is 90% likely to succeed when 50% fail to make it 5 years? The main reason is overconfidence. Looking honestly at the base rate statistics I should start my confidence of success at around 50%. From there, I could potentially come up with a handful of reasons why I think my business has a better-than-average chance at success. But it’s irrational for me to believe my business is enough of an outlier to warrant a 90% success confidence from me.
So I’m grateful that kill criteria was identified upfront. Otherwise, it’s very likely that my overconfidence bias would have inhibited my ability to make reasonable choices about when/if to close my business.
Overconfidence can be deadly for your decision-making.
- We think we are rational about our decision-making.
- We think we are “data-driven” because we look at a few dashboards.
- We assume our gut experience aligns with reality.
Here’s why this matters.
It’s not about just having data. It’s about having data that removes our biases, integrates with a robust decision making process, and provides a vantage point to assess our progress.
That’s what data means to an organization. If you want to be a high performing data team, start with a reality check on your data team. Focus on what’s real over what you feel.
What problems show up in your team when overconfidence and bias are present?
I’m here,
Sawyer
I created a prenup for my business
Most entrepreneurs jump into a new business with excitement, energy, and optimism. I was no exception when I started The Data Shop last year.
I became an entrepreneur because I believed I would be able to deliver a lot of value to my clients and make enough money to be financially stable/successful.
You need a degree of abnormal optimism to pull off the risky jump to start a business.
A “I know this will work” kind of mindset.
But many companies don’t make it. That’s a reality that supersedes any optimism of a founder. In an effort to minimize the impact of optimism on my business, I did something that might be a bit odd.
Before I launched into The Data Shop full-time, I (along with my wife) created a business prenup.
An agreement about the terms of when we would “break up” with the business.
We affectionately call it “kill criteria”.
It’s phrased something like this: If, at XYZ time, the business is not in XYZ state, we will quit the business.
We review the kill criteria once a month together. It does a tremendous job of keeping me grounded. Since the beginning, every month I have to clearly acknowledge what it will take to keep my business going.
After all, “Good mental health is a commitment to reality at all costs.”
Why should you care?
Maybe you have experienced one of these:
- A data project that’s been on life support for the last 18 months.
- A data pipeline that you constantly fix and patch but has never reliably run.
- A promotion that you set your eyes on and talked with your manager about 9 months ago.
And numerous other areas of your data work that would benefit from a kill criteria.
Kill criteria, defined up front, is a powerful force to avoid making rash decisions - e.g. quitting right after a difficult meeting with your boss. Or to help you avoid sticking it out way longer than your should - e.g. “I’m sure this next time will be it”.
Your rational self is most available before you ever get started.
Get help from that version of you.
How can you implement kill criteria into your work this week?
I’m here,
Sawyer
7 figure projects that crash and burn
I've seen several $10-30 million data projects crash and burn.
And numerous other small projects that had embarrassingly low success rates.
Here are 3 key themes that caused issues in each of these failed projects
1 - Outcomes
There were deliverables, technical specs, architecture designs, and plenty of requirements. But those aren't outcomes - those are activities.
Be very wary of a consulting firm that sells you on the activities they will perform, or the deliverables they will produce at the end.
2 - Incentives
When there's no agreement on an end outcome, incentives run wild. Scope creep, change requests, delayed timelines. When people have different desired outcomes, they are incentivized to push for their own agenda.
Chaos ensues.
3 - Expectations
You will see this when you reach the end of a project phase or a sprint and the project hits a standstill. The stakeholders look at your deliverable disappointed or confused. The executive sponsor reallocates the budget and cancels the next two phases of the project.
Their expectations weren’t met. "If you don't tell someone what to expect, how will they know when they've won?" Disappointment in data projects is primarily related to poor expectation setting or poor expectation management.
——————
If you are facing an upcoming data project - with hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars on the line - you are well served to evaluate these three areas. Hit reply if you are looking for remedies and experience solving these challenges. You aren’t alone.
Which of these issues most resonates with your experience as a data leader?
I made this for you,
Sawyer
Stop talking about the problem
I hear it from potential clients.
I’ve heard it from past clients.
I hear it in my own head.
“Stop talking about the problem. Do something about it!”
The first thing I do with clients is an assessment. It’s a simple tool I use to quickly get to the heart of what’s happening with their team and tech. When I require clients to start with an assessment they sometimes push back - “We don’t want to just talk about the problem. Let’s do something about it”.
“Bias toward action” and all that, right?
The caricature consultants get a bad rap for charging 5, 6, or 7 figures to deliver a PowerPoint deck at the end.
That’s not a problem with assessments. That’s a problem with the consultant and the expectations of everyone at the beginning.
Here’s why I usually start the assessment (and roadmap) first.
Guessing at the problem and just getting to work is far more expensive than talking about the problem upfront (You know what they say about assumptions). It’s way less risky to start small. Before signing big contracts, see what the experience, relationship, and results are like during a small assessment.
But here’s the main reason:
You can’t fix what you don’t understand.
You can’t understand what you haven’t defined.
You can’t define something you didn’t know existed.
Talking about the problem might be exactly what you need. Only then will you be ready to take precise and strategic action.
I’m here,
Sawyer
Assumptions in the shadows
Get your assumptions into the open. Confusion hides in the dark.
Your data team, data strategy, and data technologies are built on dozens (if not hundreds) of assumptions. Some of those assumptions you made, some were made by your teammates, and many were made by the people before (who are long gone).
Why does that matter for your data team?
Many of the blockers you face in your day to day work as a data team is because of those assumptions.
- You assume the budget will be available later for a project.
- You assume your team can’t handle any more work.
- You assume the business needs data to do it’s job.
- You assume your tech stack is the best option based on your circumstances.
- You assume Joey over in accounting is data illiterate and will never be pleased with that report.
The quickest way to surface these assumptions is to do an assumption inventory. That could look like sticky notes all over a conference room wall, a pen and legal pad, or a shared google doc. It works best when done with a teammate or two.
Then sort them into three categories.
1. Assumptions that are clearly true.
2. Assumptions that you are unsure if they are true.
3. Assumptions that are clearly false.
As you assign assumptions to bucket 2 and 3, you will start to unlock ideas, patterns or opportunities you’ve ignored for a long time.
Give this a try and see what comes out of the shadows. Then, let me know how it goes.
I’m here,
Sawyer
Your confidence in decisions and outcomes
You can be confident in a decision, without being confident in what outcome will occur.
This is the only honest way to approach a decision.
Leaders of data teams are full-time decision makers.
- Which project to prioritize?
- Who to hire, promote, fire?
- Which vendor to work with?
- What process to implement?
- Which technology to decommission?
Because decision making is so crucial to our job, we naturally want confidence in our decisions. But we often confuse decisions and outcomes (i.e. the results of the decision). And we express our confidence about the results we expect, rather than in our decision.
But when a decision doesn’t lead to the result we want, we get frustrated, lose our confidence, and the trust of our team. Placing confidence in the unknown eviscerates our conviction over time.
You can think about this differently…
- Decision Outcomes are influenced by a vast number of variables that you don’t control; however, decisions are made based on your evaluation of facts, experiences, and desired outcomes.
Why does this matter?
As a leader, placing your confidence in results is going to lead to a rocky road for you and your team. There are too many things you can’t control about the result.
Placing your confidence in your decision making process, allows you to trust what you can control (your decision) without trusting in the unknown future.
It can also phrased like this:
“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
I’m glad you are here,
Sawyer