{"id":18389,"date":"2022-12-08T15:00:15","date_gmt":"2022-12-08T09:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cigniti.com\/blog\/?p=18389"},"modified":"2022-12-13T17:47:56","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T12:17:56","slug":"data-driven-culture-organization-data-insights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cigniti.com\/blog\/data-driven-culture-organization-data-insights\/","title":{"rendered":"Defining a Data-Driven Culture to Turn Uncertainty into Possibility"},"content":{"rendered":"
In the past 10 years, the term ‘disruption’ has been abuzz across business and industry circles. Whether succeeding as a disruptive innovator or defending against a challenger as an incumbent, the nature of innovation\u202f has focused on the ability to re-imagine and execute business models. The nature of such business models has shifted the trajectory of demand either to totally non-existent markets or delivered from low-end footholds to scale.<\/p>\n
A theory familiar to most of us and made famous by Clayton M. Christensen, a renowned Harvard Business School Professor\u202fand the architect of the world\u2019s first theory on \u201cdisruptive innovation\u201d in his 1997 book\u202f The Innovator’s Dilemma. This was and still is the era of what would be termed as “mass commoditization of everything”.<\/p>\n
Legacy incumbents often struggled to keep pace with the exploratory culture of disruptors catalyzed by technology advancements in mobile computing, artificial intelligence (AI), robots, sensors, and quantum computing.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the last 3 years have seen the emergence of a new term \u2018uncertainty\u2019. To be\u202fdisruptive\u202fwas a unique quality, executed by a select few and directed at challenging large incumbents. However, the era of ‘uncertainty’ is not selective. Every organization, large or small, tech or traditional, incumbent or disruptor, is exposed.<\/p>\n
Today, the uncertainty of demand, a pandemic that continues to disrupt, the tightening of monetary policies, and ultimately the changing dynamics of the labor market are unparalleled in comparison to any other time.<\/p>\n
Organizations must recognize that a true North Star for their strategic plans in an era of uncertainty will come from understanding the deeper needs of customers and the ability to deliver products with experiences that respect and value such needs.<\/p>\n
It ensures organizations are not only differentiating to guard against disruptive competitors. Rather, it centers on a strong purpose; the \u201cwhy\u201d or reason for existence that serves to guide and orient a company\u2019s ability to chart a path forward.<\/p>\n
The gel between leadership and successful execution in this \u2018era of customers\u2019 is a strong culture that governs the values, virtues, and behavior of its leaders. This culture is today premised on valuing curiosity to recognize change and rethink past assumptions. It is a virtue to always seek new data for insights to inform decisions. It is courageous in executing new possibilities that emerge for both customer success and employees’ well-being.<\/p>\n
Valuing curiosity to recognize change and rethink past assumptions\u202f<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cYou can’t overtake 15 cars in sunny weather, but you can when it’s raining.\u201d\u202f\u202f<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u2013 Ayrton Senna\u202f<\/em><\/p>\n The era of customers is demanding organizations rethink how value is created. The customer\u2019s demands and needs in a digital age are changing dynamically in uncertain market conditions. The customers are also being served differently by a larger portfolio of competitors leveraging emerging technology levers.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, most of the existing frameworks of value creation were created in a more stable era, where planning for certainty was reflected in absolute timeframes prescribed in 3, 5, and 10-year strategic plans. Today the era of uncertainty requires organizations to extend boundary lines into the unknown.<\/p>\n The limiting factor often lies in the design of organizational structures, especially in those focused on executing or exploiting current business models. The ultra-focus on efficiency here may lead to leaders stifling key impulses that lead to change such as seeking new data or exploring new possibilities that are also inherently a basic human attribute.<\/p>\n Recognizing this need for change in uncertain environments is a critical first step and a strong data-driven culture values and promotes curiosity among its employees, and fosters creativity as an outcome to turn uncertainty into possibility.<\/p>\n