Data Governance Interview With Andy Lunt

My name is Andy Lunt and I’ve been working in the field of data for the last 10+ years previously for Adecco Group and more recently Carruthers & Jackson.

How long have you been working in Data Governance?

I’ve been working specifically in data governance for almost 3 years now.

Some people view Data Governance as an unusual career choice, would you mind sharing how you got into this area of work?

I worked as an MI/BI manager for many years and got to see the results of poor data management in the many hours spent trying to make sense of the data coming into my team – lots of troubleshooting! An opportunity to work with a newly formed data science team as a data governance manager came up and a chance to fix the causes of many of the data problems we had was one I couldn’t pass off, so I took it!

What characteristics do you have that make you successful at Data Governance and why?

I would say empathy, resilience, persistence, and self-motivation are all characteristics you need.

Empathy, because if you can’t learn to walk a mile in someone’s shoes, you won’t know what is causing them pain when it comes to data. Resilience in your approach is key, there are a lot of ‘dead ends’ in data governance so being resilient allows you to keep changing until you get it right. Persistence is needed for your message about the ‘why’ people will understand the need but it takes time and persistence to really drive the message of why bother with data governance. Self-motivation, when the chips are down and you’ve had enough doors slammed in your face that your nose appears shorter you need to find ways to keep knocking – this is where your passion for the subject, your team, and your knowledge of the ‘why’ being greater than the ‘how’ all come into play.

Are there any particular books or resources that you would recommend as useful support for those starting out in Data Governance?

I would firstly look at getting a mentor, this helped me hugely at the start and in fact helps me to this day. We don’t expect professional athletes to stay at the top of their game or even get to the top without one and in my opinion nor should we.

Some books I read:

The Jelly Effect by Andy Bounds

Verbal Judo by George J. Thomson & Jerry B. Jenkins

Telling Your Data Story by Scott Taylor

What is the biggest challenge you have ever faced in a Data Governance implementation?

Business culture/people.

Is there a company or industry you would particularly like to help implement Data Governance for and why?

Child social care – there is just too much critical data lost, not captured, not accessible, or not understood due to poor data management practices. It breaks my heart to think children suffer as a consequence especially as it’s within our power to change.

What single piece of advice would you give someone just starting out in Data Governance?

Stay positive and be the change.

Finally, I wondered if you could share a memorable data governance experience?

I once spent 30 minutes trying to work out why a full stop had gotten into a field where the data quality rule didn’t allow it…turned out to be a spec of dirt on my screen - I took a long hard look at myself in the mirror that night!

I purchased a cheap keyboard from Amazon which added an extra space in between words randomly – it was a true data governance hater! The words ‘you buy cheap, you buy twice’ were ringing in my head when the new (much better quality) keyboard turned up!