One of my New Year’s goals is to hone my education about big data. After going to Promotable’s talk about healthcare analytics (read my recap) with WellCare Health Plans’ Pamela Taylor, I attended their next event about “Creating a Data-Driven Culture,” presented by Kevin Chaplin and Mike Lewis of the consulting firm Slalom, headquartered in Seattle. Their definition:
“A modern culture of data is an environment of experimentation, empowerment, curiosity, critical thinking and collaboration.”The bold qualities of exhibiting a data-driven culture that Kevin and Mike posed easily garner favor since they’re fundamental. Qualities shepherded and grandfathered into the 21st century—when the workplace (provoked to evolve by relentless tech) demands not only their adoption, but also their demonstration.
In fact, any environment that a company nurtures would benefit from implementing the professional pentagon of experimentation, empowerment, curiosity, critical thinking and collaboration. Yet, these standards are not beholden to data-drivenness. They also belong to other modern work settings that align themselves to being driven by art, design, engineering, healthcare, science or any other dominant focus. Kevin’s and Mike’s characterization of a “modern culture of data” is an aspirational, business template. It’s also good redundancy.
I left the talk refreshed, reminded of the overarching behavior I’ll strive to consistently practice. And it’s collective conduct I’ll keep trying to scout and acquire as much as possible (as I currently seek new work opportunities).
In retrospect, though there are a lot of timely work-culture goals to pluck from, accountability should be included as another characteristic in describing a data-driven culture. Regarding governance, or “guardianship” as the Slalom consultants identified in their “Modern Culture of Data Framework,” responsibility is understood—but it should be spelled out, considering the increasing importance of data-driven matters: collection, usage, privacy, security and more.
A big shout-out to Kevin and Mike of Slalom for an informative appetizer. Thanks again to Promotable who proactively tether their modern program of data-driven courses with contemporary perspectives through their organizing of talks!
My resolution → To get demystified about big data. This is matched by my intent → To attend more events held by Promotable.
To view Kevin’s and Mike’s talk about a data-driven culture and more, go to Promotable’s YouTube channel.
Support Design Feast on Patreon!
Your readership means a lot. Lots of hours are put into making Design Feast—because it’s a labor of love to provide creative culture to everyone. If you are able to contribute, please consider becoming a Patron to support this long-term passion project with a recurring monthly donation—every bit of support makes a difference in allowing me to generate all of this content on a regular basis. Thank you for your consideration!
