Leadership expert Simon Sinek has created an organizational leadership series titled “What is your Why?” exploring the core and fundamental reasons why an organization (or leader) does anything. A similar approach is needed with data transformation.
The enterprise data vision helps give clarity to the enormity that is data transformation. The starting point for creating a data “why” is the creation of the enterprise data vision. Clearly connecting enterprise data is the foundation of any data vision, but the why is extraordinarily important. The enterprise data vision should both support the credit union’s mission to serve the member and be aligned with the business plan.
Creating an enterprise data vision statement is similar to creating a credit union mission statement. Start with the end in mind. Envision the credit union after data has been connected and insights have been generated. Consider how data is transforming the members’ lives. What problems has the credit union solved for its members? What is the state of the credit union/member relationship?
The time frame to consider is five years. This allows for twenty-four to thirty-six months of data integrations, implementations, and building of culture consumption capabilities. In this future world, five years in the future, where will credit unions KPI be? What will be the state of member engagement? Will members be engaging in an omni-channel? Or will it be increasingly more digital? What friction do you envision to be removed? What solutions will the credit union have solidly delivered to the members’ problems?
Spend time envisioning this destination and how data and the member will diverge. Stay true to a credit union’s mission. In this future state, with your lens anchored on the organizational mission, attempt to answer these following questions:
Why does the credit union exist, and how can data impact that?
What is our competitive advantage, and how can data impact that?
What should we use data for, and what should we not?
Describe what success looks like for the credit union in this new connected data world.
Try to stay away from a tactical discussion on operations and focus on identifying success data metrics. These ideally should be found in the credit union KPIs. The outcome from this exercise should help define a measurable goal determined by leadership consensus. An example of a data vision statement is “To create revolutionary member relationships, today and tomorrow.”
Each statement is a broad-brush use case but also a starting-point consideration for the enterprise data vision. An enterprise data vision is like an organizational vision. It is not a credit union mission statement, as those describe what the credit union does and how the credit union is different from other credit unions. An enterprise data vision should describe a future state of what your credit union aspires to achieve from data transformation. This should be time-boxed and written in such a way that it is easily understood by and motivates employees. The time box is essential because it communicates the tangibility of the vision.
Consider the enterprise data vision as the destination for the organization’s data strategy.
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We believe that data transformation doesn't have to feel overwhelming or expensive to be impactful. After helping over 600 credit union leaders launch their data journeys, we have identified several consistent knowledge gaps. We have worked hard to fill these gaps with a variety of educational artifacts:
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