The importance of being data-driven

Competing in today's VUCA world calls for new skills in strategy, finance and analytics

I posit to you that: this volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous market we find ourselves in calls for both, a new set of skills and a not-so-new set of skills. What do I mean by "not-so-new"?

Robust strategic problem-solving skills and the ability to lead diverse teams in managing change in an unpredictable environment. Financial nous and being able to read a report and being able to articulate managerial decisions in financial terms: efficiency, effectiveness ... position (sufficiency) and performance (sometimes, the lack of it!). These core skills of strategy and finance are well understood by our business and leadership community ...

But at the same time, the 21st century has seen an exponential increase in the volumes of data generated and its availability. We've seen this growth in the ability of systems to process that information, but at the same time, there has not been an exponential increase in the average decision maker's ability to make sense of this avalanche. Never mind exploiting the opportunity therein!

Enter: data-driven strategy.

So what does it mean to be "data-driven"?

Being "data-driven" is nothing new. To craft strategies that are based on fact and data, that are based on hypothesis and logic that is defensible, is the core of the problem-solving approach of consulting.

As humans, we are prone to certain biases in the way we think. It's just the way we are! Some of these biases can creep into our strategic decision-making processes. Adopting the Socratic Method by being clear and logical in our thinking is one defence against these biases, which can skew the rational process of decision-making. And supporting an argument or a hypothesis in the Socratic Method with relevant and reliable data is key to that decision-making process.

So being "data-driven" at its core, is not new. What is new is the application of new data science and analytics methods to enhance this process. You can view consulting as a way of ... minimising the unknown unknowns. Data-driven consulting is how we minimise these unknown unknowns using the full suite of strategic problem solving, financial nous and data analytics.