My Digital FootPrint

The (un)intended consequence of focusing on data, looking for significance, determining correlation, testing a hypothesis, removing bias and finding the consensus is that you ignore the outliers.  Hidden in the outliers of data are progress, innovation, invention and creativity, and the delay is that by ignoring this data and the signals from it, we slow down everything because we will always be late to observe and agree on what is already happening with those who are not driven by using data to reduce and manage today's risk.  Our thrust to use data to make better decisions and apply majority or consensus thinking creates delays in change and, therefore, increases future risk.  ------ In our increasingly data-driven world, the unintended consequence of data often manifests as delay. While data is hailed as the lifeblood of decision-making, its sheer volume and complexity can paradoxically slow down processes, hinder innovation, and impede productivity. This phenomenon u...

This link gives you access to all the articles and archives for </Hello CDO> “Prevention or Correction” is something society has wrestled with for a very long time. This article focuses on why our experience of “prevention or correction” ideas frames the CDO’s responsibilities and explores a linkage to a company’s approach to data. Almost irrespective of where you reside, we live with police, penal, and political systems that cannot fully agree on preventing or correcting. It is not that we disagree with the “why”; is it the “how” that divides us! I am a child of an age when lefthandedness was still seen as something to correct, so we have made some progress. A fundamental issue is that prevention is the best thinking; but if you prevent it, it does not occur. We are then left with the dilemma, “did you prevent it, or was it not going to occur anyway?” The finance team now ask, “Have we wasted resources on something that would not have happened?” When something we don’t lik...

Click here to access all the articles and archive for </Hello CDO> A very modern problem for leadership, executives and boards is, in fact, a very old problem; it is just that the scale, impact and consequences have increased.  Evidence .   There are two sides to the evidence coin, the proof the problem is the priority problem for scarce resources, and the other side is that that solution is the one that will drive the outcomes we desire.  Very different evidence requirements, and each side have many faces. Complexity and uncertainty mean that the historical preference for gut feeling and big leadership power plays provide insufficient rigour in the decision-making process. However, evidence gathering and presentation have similar issues.   Evidence can always be found to support the outcome you want (is this a problem or not), and incentives mean that evidence about which solution creates the best outcome will be lost, reframed and distorted.  Unpi...

Source :  worth observing that this Dilbert was 1993 !!!!  Radar and sonar are incredible inventions as they allow us to perceive what cannot be actually seen with the naked eye.  As technology has advance and big data analysis has emerged we have gone from a simple echo to high-quality resolution.  However, the peak value for Radar is that it informs you something is there which requires low resolution and very little data.  As Radar resolution has improved we can get direction and speed which requires a little more time. This new information definitely adds value to any required reactive decision. The identification of what the actual object is through increased resolution has an incremental value but not as much as knowing it is there and what direction at what speed but such information can lead to a better decision but suddenly there is an economics of cost compared to the incremental improvement in outcome.  Knowing what type of bird by species or wh...

Subject: Agenda item for our away day on strategy and scenarios To: CEO and senior exec team We should congratulate ourselves on the progress made, however as your CDO, I am now going to make a case that we measure too much, have too much data and that as a team, we should reflect on the next thing that data can support us in! We have bought into “Data is the new oil,” and whilst we know the analogy breaks down below the veneer, the message is beautifully simple and has empowered the change to a data and digital business. The global pandemic has accelerated our adoption and transformation, and we are in a better place than March 2020. However, sticking with oil, we know that the extraction process has downsides, including carbon release, messy, and difficulty locating economic wells.   Amongst data’s most significant downsides are legal liabilities, noise and the wrong data.  I can easily hide data’s downsides through dashboards.  Our dashboards are based on trickle-do...

This article is about how to ensure Directors gain assurance about “data” that is supporting the recommendations in a Board paper. I have read, written and presented my fair share of Board and Investment Committee papers over the past 25 years. As Directors, we are collectively accountable and responsible for the decisions we take. I can now observe a skills gap regarding “data”, with many board members assuming and trusting the data that forms the basis on which they are asked to approve. There are good processes, methods and procedures for ensuring that any Board papers presented are factual. However, decisions using big-data and their associated analysis tools, including ML and AI, which drives automation, is new and requires different expertise at a higher level of detail.  Challenging data is different from finding it hard to question in detail any C-suite on their specific expertise and, more generally, the general counsel, CFO and CTO.  The CDO/ CIO axis bridges the va...

I have written and read my fair share of board and investment papers over the past 25 years.  This post is not to add to the abundance of excellent work on how to write a better board/ investment paper or what the best structure is - it would annoy you and waste my time.  A classic “board paper” will likely have the following headings: Introduction, Background, Rationale, Structure/ Operations, Illustrative Financials & Scenarios, Competition, Risks and Legal. Case by case there are always minor adjustments. Finally, there will be some form of Recommendation inviting the board to note key facts and approve the request.  I believe it is time for the Chair or CEO, with the support of their senior data lead (#CDO) to ask that each board paper has a new section heading called   “ Data Attestation. ”  Some will favour this as an addition to the main flow, some as a new part of legal, others as an appendix; how and where matters little compared to its intent. Th...

Data ethics is the integration of ethical thinking with the constraints of data and centres on how to make better decisions that ensures ethical outcomes. Data ethics is a broad topic encapsulating data and ethical decisions, data-based judgement, bias, ethics of collecting and analysing data, and the ethics of automation created by data.   The data we collected in 2010 could paint a low quality, black and white, abstract picture of our world and the data could be used to inform, frame or guide. In 2020, the data collected can describe our world in high-definition colour and is being used to mould, form and shape actions in complicated environments. We are accelerating our collection and use of data.  Boards need to get deep and dirty with data and the ethics of judgement based on data, it is complex and often requires new skills.   Boards are biased towards professionals who represent experience in finance, legal, operations, marketing and sales.  These “...