Finding Solutions In A Complex World

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Every organization is adjusting to changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Whether experiencing breakdowns due to unexpected demand or scrambling to stay afloat, every organization is figuring out how to offer their products and services more efficiently and effectively.  Our organizations are swirling mixtures of actions and interactions between processes, technology, and people.  When issues arise, we often look to one of these aspects to solve the problem “It’s a technology bug.” “It’s a process issue.” “It’s a people problem.” The reality is that often all play a role, and yet what is missing?  Data and information!

Danette McGilvray, President, Granite Falls Consulting
Danette will be presenting the course, ‘Ten Steps to Data Quality‘ via Live Streaming 21-23 June 2021

Data and information are vital to every enterprise, institution, agency, establishment, or business, in any industry, such as for-profits, education, government, healthcare, nonprofits, charities, etc.  Data and information are essential whether people work together in an office or collaborate virtually from home or across the world.  Yet the quality of the data is often assumed to meet the needs of the people and the machines that use it, an assumption too often unfounded.

The good news is that we know how to deal with data and information quality issues that get in the way of what our organizations are trying to achieve. We have a methodology called Ten Steps to Quality Data and Trusted Information™, the subject of an upcoming course taught by me, Danette McGilvray. The Ten Steps provide a holistic view that brings together business needs, people, processes, technology, and information. The beauty of this approach is that it provides a way to see connections, dependencies, and relationships between these perspectives that were not visible before. We are able to create solutions that are solid and sustainable. We are able to bring value to our organizations and help them better satisfy their customers, provide products and services, implement strategies, achieve goals, address issues, and take advantage of opportunities.

I am reminded of a wonderful cartoon that came across my desk many years ago. The artist is B. Kliban. Imagine in your mind as I describe it. There are two men and one wagon full of round wagon wheels. With great effort, one man struggling to pull and one man pushing with all his might, they are moving the wagon full of round wagon wheels. But the wagon itself had square wheels! If you can get the visual of this, you recognize that had the men replaced the square wheels on the wagon with the round wheels they were transporting, they would reach their destination much more quickly and with much less effort than the effort it would have taken to change the wheels. They did not take advantage of the solution right in front of them.

This was a brilliant expression of what happens every day in our organizations. We move toward our destinations. With great effort we push and pull at the problems that get in our way, yet fail to use solutions that are right in front of us – solutions that would get us to where we need to be faster and with less effort. The Ten Steps methodology is the round wheel. Stop struggling and take advantage of the solutions offered in this class for the benefit of your organization. Bring your issues, your own knowledge and experience, interact with other delegates, and find solutions to help your organization.

Danette McGilvray is president and principal of Granite Falls Consulting, a firm that helps organizations increase their success by addressing the information quality and data governance aspects of their business efforts. Focusing on bottom-line results, Granite Falls’ strength is in helping clients connect their business strategy to practical steps for implementation. Granite Falls also emphasizes the inclusion of communication, change management, and other human aspects in data quality and governance work. Danette is the author of Executing Data Quality Projects: Ten Steps to Quality Data and Trusted Information™ (Morgan Kaufmann, 2008). An internationally respected expert, Danette’s Ten Steps™ approach to information quality has been embraced as a proven method for both understanding and creating information and data quality in any organization. A Chinese-language edition is also available and her book is used as a textbook in university graduate programs. Contact her at danette@gfalls.com, connect with her on LinkedIn: Danette McGilvray, and follow her on Twitter: @Danette_McG.

This article Copyright 2021 by Danette McGilvray, Granite Falls Consulting, Inc. (www.gfalls.com) All rights reserved worldwide.

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