ROI is not the priority for executives, who prioritize innovation and value creation.
Data leaders should quantify the financial impact of their initiatives from a profit and loss (P&L) perspective.
Effective leadership and clear communication are crucial for the success of data initiatives.
Deep dives
Data-driven recruitment services for business success
ORBishing Group partners with organizations to provide recruitment services that go beyond traditional methods. They offer insights into the market and competition, raise brand awareness within the data and analytics community, and help attract top talent for organizations.
Taylor Culver's journey into data and entrepreneurship
Taylor Culver, founder of Zeno Data, started his career in finance and accidentally stumbled into the world of data. He eventually became a data product manager and fell in love with the complexity of the field. He experienced challenges as a data leader but found his calling as an entrepreneur, aiming to solve the data management problem.
The misconception of data ROI
While many organizations focus on ROI for data projects, the podcast emphasizes that value perception is more important. Data drives value for businesses, and ROI is a measure, but it is often not committed or held accountable in budgeting. Executives prioritize innovation, value creation, and common metrics over strict ROI calculations. Data leaders should consider other measurable business problems such as revenue creation, risk reduction, productivity improvements, and economic cost savings.
Understanding the financial perspective on data strategy
The podcast highlights the importance of framing the data strategy in financial terms, particularly from a profit and loss (P&L) perspective. Data leaders need to show how their initiatives improve profit by increasing revenue, reducing costs, boosting productivity, or quantifying risk reduction. By aligning the data strategy with the P&L and engaging stakeholders, data leaders can gain credibility and ensure their goals contribute to the enterprise's value.
The role of leadership in successful data initiatives
Effective leadership is crucial for data initiatives to succeed. Data leaders should possess strong soft skills and be able to communicate effectively with stakeholders from different functions within the organization. They need to demonstrate value, build trust, and be able to navigate complex conversations. CEOs and executive teams play a vital role in understanding and supporting the data strategy, and data professionals should be able to articulate the ROI in clear and understandable terms.
In Episode 31 of Season 3, of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Taylor Culver, Founder of XenoData, where they discuss how Data Leaders can deliverable measurable value from their data strategy, which includes;
Why ROI is a 'nice to have' for company executives, not a priority
Innovation is what company execs and shareholders care about the most
Finance leaders don’t measure impact on ROI, but IRR
Organisations will happily spend on capex but not an opex, and what that means for Data Leaders
Why culture and literacy aren’t the magic bullet, but good leadership is
Data isn’t an asset, and if it was, why it wouldn’t be a good asset to have
Why Data Leaders need to focus on adding the enterprise value of a firm
If you’re being held accountable for ROI as a Data Leader then you’re already on the way out!
Why Data Leaders already have everything they need to be successful
The relationship between “value” and “ROI”
Why innovation is what company execs and shareholders care about the most
Why intangible value is far greater than the ROI you’ll generate
Why finance leaders don’t measure impact on ROI, but IRR
How data leaders can quantify their impact
The importance of language
Calculating the financial impact of data initiatives
The differences between quantifying tangible and intangible benefits
How ROI merely makes you more credible as a Data Leader
Why organisations keep investing capital into data initiatives
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