People Are Motivated By “The Why’ not “The How” of Data Governance

If people understand and accept "why", they will figure out how to make it happen.  This idea provides a practical application of the three principle of Motivation 3.0, Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose.  Do project managers spend any time discussing why?  They usually focus on what needs to be done.  

We spend very little time on the "why" because we assume people see things the way we do.  However most organizations see data governance as simply extra work and "not my job."  Let's go back to first principles and consider why data governance is important for everybody.  

Just read a great blog on data governance and it reminded me of this principle of motivation

the-collaborative-culture-of-data-governance

Here is a quote from the blog.

"A data governance program needs to begin by communicating why data governance is necessary before communicating how it should be done. To paraphrase Friedrich Nietzsche: "An employee who has a why to work for can bear with almost any how."

"In his book "Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action," Simon Sinek explained that it is not the products or services that bind a company together or make it strong; it's the culture, the strong sense of beliefs and values that everyone, from the CEO to the receptionist, all share."

So why is Data Governance so important for everybody?  The business intelligence provides information critical to my success in the organization.  Misleading information  leads to wrong decisions.  My success in my job depends on the decisions I make.  In this changing world, data errors can doom an organization to failure in a blink of an eye.  If data does not ring true, ask about the governance process.

Dan Pink wrote an article in the Daily Telegraph about "why" and some important research see Asked yourself why you're in business.

Let's all critically examine the "why" in what we do.

Leave a Reply

captcha *