Data literacy: Overcoming the “so what” objection

Article by: Nick Kelly

As we explored in our recent white paper, data literacy is key to building a culture of data, which in turn forms the bedrock of a truly data-driven organization. Yet data leaders in businesses across industries continue to encounter resistance to data literacy programs, much of which takes the form of the question “Why should I care about data literacy?”

Fortunately, leaders can address and overcome this objection by educating teams and individuals on three key reasons why data literacy benefits the individual, their team, and the organization as a whole.

1. Data is the new competitive advantage

Twenty years ago, Netflix approached Blockbuster about forming a partnership that would enable the latter to offer an online service. According to former Netflix CEO Barry McCarthy, Blockbuster “just about laughed us out of their office.” Netflix had been hit hard by the .com crash, and Blockbuster figured they could copy the online subscription business model and grab that share of the market. It didn’t work. Today, Netflix is a Fortune 500 powerhouse, and Blockbuster no longer exists.

Organizations like Netflix, Airbnb, Amazon, and Uber have adopted data-driven insights to disrupt their industries, while their competitors scramble to keep pace or face the consequences. Forrester estimates that “insights-driven businesses” — companies that “systematically harness insights across their organization and implement them to create competitive advantage” — grow at an average of more than 30 percent annually.

By gaining the basic skills and knowledge they need to understand, interpret, and take action on data, individual team members are positioning themselves to help grow the company’s competitive edge, which is a win-win for everyone.

2. Data provides a common language

Imagine two stakeholders discussing the state of their organization’s customer service offering. One person is concerned that callers are waiting too long on hold and wants to increase the number of agents. A second person may not think there’s a problem with hold times — after all, everyone expects to have to wait when they call customer service, and most of the company’s customers use the self-service app anyway … don’t they?

This is just one example of a situation where the missing link is a common language: one person sees a serious threat to their customer satisfaction while another sees a minor inconvenience that affects a few individuals. Data provides a common language that can help these two people get a clear picture of the situation, offering real-world answers to guide their decision.

Question: Are call wait times a problem we need to address?

Without data

• “I just think/don’t think it’s a problem.”
• “Leadership thinks/doesn’t think it’s a problem.”
• “It’s [never] been a problem before.”
• “We’re getting complaints.”
• “The customers I’ve talked to don’t seem to mind.”

With data

• “Let’s look at the data and find out …
• How many customers seek support and what percentage come through the phone
• Our customer satisfaction percentile for our industry
• How long it takes to manage 90% of all support calls
• Whether customers with longer wait times give lower Net Promoter Scores or have higher rates of attrition”

If the organization ensures that stakeholders have the skills needed to interpret and draw insights from data (and, of course, provides access to well-curated information), it creates a common language that can facilitate discussion, collaboration, and consensus.

By establishing a common language, organizations can take the first step in creating a data culture — a shared set of behaviors and beliefs of people who value, practice, and encourage the use of data to drive decision making. This cultural shift paves the way for the adoption of data-driven insights and evolution to a data-driven organization, in which no one would think of making a major decision without first asking “What does the data tell us?”

To view tactic #3, read through the full article on our website here: https://www.logic2020.com/insight/data-literacy-overcoming-so-what?utm_source=social&utm_medium=Medium&utm_campaign=Business_Insights