Big Data is the buzzword of the year. It is almost impossible to read anything about leadership, management or technology without encountering it. The term is vague approximately by design. However what does it actually mean to a frontline team manager? What does a CEO required to understand about Big-Data in their workplace? Since co-authors of the Decoded Company we've spent a lot of time thinking about this topic. Following are the top 5 trends you should be thinking about.
1) We are living in a data-abundant environment also It is changing everything.
Most of the technology of management that we utilize today is designed around the assumption that data is expensive to gather also therefore infrequently available. Yet, data is abundant also incredibly cheap to gather, store, process also analyse. This epic shift has led to radically different business models on one hand, however only incremental management philosophy tinkering on the other. The tools we utilize each day, like meetings also e-mail, were all invented by people who were born last century in a radically different world.
2) People are on the whole very important thing.
It is a crucial speech. CEOs talk about their people as being their most important assets also resources without considering the definition of those words. Resources described as a supply or source from which benefit is produced; assets are anything tangible or intangible that is capable of being owned or controlled. Even the language of accounting can be viewed as somewhat brutalizing - employees are owed money for their time which makes them liabilities. Usual approaches to management are predicated largely on the idea that people were interchangeable cogs in a production machine. Harvesting a field or adding a part to a widget making its way through a factory- people were essentially units of labour. Our shift to a knowledge-based economy has created highly specialized also differentiated requirements for the people that make up our organizations. Unfortunately, our one-size-fits-all processes haven't evolved to match it. We should call people "people" (or "talent") also we should adapt as much as possible to empower them to perform at their best.
3) Big Data is no longer simply a technological issue, However a strategic one.
With the increasing popularity of Data Scientists' roles within organizations, it is often easy to presume that dealing with the age of Big Data is as simple as outsourcing those responsibilities to someone with a statistical/computer science background. In realism our ability to leverage data to answer challenging questions falls firmly into the C-Suite territory. The ability to utilize Big Data, both internally also externally, has become a leadership issue that must be carefully considered at the highest level of an organization. Without a leader's vision also foresight to guide the organization, all the data in the world won't be useful also in fact, can be quite harmful to company culture, performance also morale.
4) Each company has untapped analytical resources; each company has the potential to be "decoded".
Data has turn into a plentiful resource that many companies are producing many streams of data already without capturing any useful insights. Being "decoded" is not a single state, however a broad spectrum on which each company should find its place. In that respect, identifying those analytical resources can help you better understand your organization's needs also make the best possible utilize of both people also data.
5) Companies will need to develop also maintain ethical data practices.
As companies continue to utilize data to better understand their customers also their own people, the question of privacy also transparencies have become critical issues to be addressed. We believe in creating also promoting ethical data practices that protect people's right to privacy. Developing best practices that include transparency in what is being collected also how It is being utilized is critical. That is why we have introduced a concept called the Corporate Public Record, to guide organizations to focus on collecting non-sensitive data in a transparent way like which customers a worker is responsible for, the number of people on a team, budget details, how often deadlines are met, etc. The idea is to tap into data to better inform also empowering employees, helping to create happy also humane workplaces.
If properly harnessed, technology can be a coach also a trainer, spurring people on. At an instant most corporate software systems are more like referees, slavishly enforcing business rules even at the expense of your people's time, engagement also sanity. As we all know it does not have to be this way. We accept as true that the new key to a competitive advantage is to become more talent-centric, data-driven, and flexible also fast.