It was a cold, dark Christmas Eve, as the grumpy Chief Data Officer at the Counting House known as Ebenezer threw his hands in the air and declared himself done with Data Governance. He had been trying for several months to implement a new initiative within his organisation but to no avail. He was done, finished… and ready to hand in his resignation.

He had been trying for several months to get departments across the organisation on board with his plans but he had no stakeholder buy-in, and it was impossible to get heads round a table to get things done.

“To hell with Data Governance!” he shouted across the empty office.

Ebenezer buried is head in his hands and closed his eyes and started to drift off into a deep, exhausted sleep. Suddenly, he jumped awake, and there in front of him was a tall, shadowy figure.

“Who are you?” he croaked out.

“The ghost of Data Past” came the reply, “And you need to come with me… I have something to show you…”

Dumfounded, Ebenezer stood up and followed the figure into the next room. Suddenly the empty bullpen was bustling with people; keyboards were clanking, telephones were ringing and there was some sort of commotion.

An argument had broken out between members of the marketing team and members of the customer care team about the quality of data in the systems; both teams were making changes to the same set of data and felt they had ownership of it but were working with different sets of rules and definitions and the quality of the data set had become so corrupt it was no longer useable. The business had ground to a halt and there were serious concerns that a regulatory fine could be on the horizon as the data had been badly mishandled.

Jobs – and the future of the Counting House – was at stake.

“You see, Ebenezer” said the shadowy figure, “this is why you began this Data Governance journey in the first place… without you, all of these people would have lost their jobs just before Christmas.”

Ebenezer was frustrated, “Yes, but why are you showing ME this? I understand why we need Data Governance!”

“To remind you of your why…” replied the shadowy figure… and with that, they vanished, and the office returned to its dark, cold, quiet state.

Ebenezer let out a heavy sigh and began to mutter about not eating any more of his Christmas cheeseboard before taking a nap when the room around him started to transform once again, and a new, slightly glowing figure appeared by his side.

“Oh, what fresh hell is this?” he asked the new presence.

“I am the ghost of Data Present, and I am here to shed some light on what is going wrong with your data governance initiative Ebenezer.”

Ebenezer was really beginning to get frustrated now, trying desperately to wake himself up from what he thought was a cheese-induced nightmare.

“I know what’s going on with the data governance initiative – no one else cares!” he snapped back.

“Do you really think that’s true Ebenezer? Maybe you should take some time to listen to your colleagues…”

They stood quietly, clearly invisible to the cluster of colleagues that stood near them, chatting away. As he listened in, he could hear his colleagues complaining that they were in the dark about why The Counting House was implementing Data Governance at all:

“Ebenezer keeps saying it’s ‘best practice’… what does that even mean?”

“He’s so unapproachable – he talks in riddles about efficiencies and opportunities but why should I care?”

“Why should I take on extra work to keep the regulator happy – that’s above my pay grade!”

Ebenezer was shocked into silence.

The Ghost of Data Present began to speak in a calm tone, “Ebenezer, you’ve not communicated with these people. They see you as unapproachable.

“If you want them to buy into your Data Governance initiative, you need to explain to them what is in it for them and if you can't in a way that they will be interested in and benefits them, they're just not going to be interested.

“You are struggling to get stakeholders to buy into your data governance initiative and that is why you're not getting the support you need for it or the funding and everything you've done to date feels like wasted effort. Communicate Ebenezer…”

And with that, the glowing figure was gone again.

Ebenezer rubbed his eyes… he was really done with the blue cheese this time. But before he could go any further, a third, glistening ghost was at his side.

This time, he surrendered himself to the inevitable, “And whom might you be then…?”

“I am the Ghost of Data Future” replied the sparkly being, “and I am here to show you how things could be… if you just explain to these people why!”

Before him, Ebenezer was presented with a happy workplace, and a younger-looking, smiling version of himself was making his way through the office.

“Congrats, Ebby!” shouted one colleague.

“Well done, Ebenezer!” boomed another.

“What’s happening?” he asked the Ghost.

“You sat your colleagues down and explained to them their own personal why for implementing data governance, they bought into it and so far it’s been a success… The Counting House has just avoided a big regulatory fine and it’s all thanks to you…”

The glistening figure disappeared and once again Ebenezer found himself standing alone in the cold, dark office. But this time he felt warm and empowered. He knew what he had to do…

A word from The Data Governance Coach

If you plan to implement data governance within your organisation, or you have started, but your initiative has fallen by the wayside, then the first thing you must do is take a step back and assess why you’re implementing Data Governance within your organisation.

Implementing Data Governance can often be a long and thankless process, and some might argue it is not for the faint-hearted, so understanding ‘why’ is crucial in order to get the most out of your data governance journey – and here is the secret… it must be business led.

If you do not know what the business case is for the implementation of DG within your organisation, it can be easy to get side-tracked and distracted. The ‘why’ is what will guide you in your journey and ensure your organisation is getting what it needs from your data governance initiative.

Don’t be like Ebenezer.

Don't forget if you have any questions, you’d like covered in future videos or blogs please email me - questions@nicolaaskham.com.

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