In today’s fast-paced world, creating stakeholder value is more important than ever. Futurists and executives alike must focus on the challenges of leveraging data to drive innovation and growth. Despite the growing importance of “Big Data,” there is a risk that it will be overlooked or dismissed as irrelevant. As Chief Information Officers and digital executives, it is crucial that we prioritize Big Data and ensure that it gets the attention it deserves.
When faced with persistent issues like underutilization of data, it’s essential to rethink our approach to this problem. One way to do this is by conducting a mental model audit, which can help us analyze how we think about data and identify areas for improvement. In a recent study with senior executives, they were asked to categorize themselves as Swallows, Hedgehogs, or Moles based on their approach to data. The results showed that very few executives identified as Hedgehogs, indicating a lack of a universally accepted framework for creating value with data.
Creating value from data requires clear goals that are linked to achievable projects with specific milestones. Simply incorporating data and analytic goals into strategic decision-making processes can lead to significant value creation for an enterprise. At the Gartner Data and Analytics Summit 2024, VP Analyst Ehtisham Zaidi discussed how companies that have strategically integrated data, analytics, and AI into their operations have outperformed their peers 80% of the time in the last nine years.