Philip Dutton, CEO and founder, Solidatus

I believe the most important attribute that contributes to success in a leadership role and in data is openness. In an environment that is constantly changing there is no space for ego or definitive resolve. The ability to accept and conceptualize new must be coupled with an insatiable curiosity, the ability to wonder and ask why and challenge the status quo. After that you need to be resilient to the point of lunacy and be able to inspire people to believe the destination is worth the journey.     

The shifting sands of data are constantly evolving, so what we believed a year or two ago was best practice is now seen as objectively flawed and so data maturity isn’t a fixed well-defined scale, it is constantly being iterated on.  

We work with the full spectrum of organizations from the largest and most complex organizations in the world, to the smaller digital first organizations just starting their data governance journey. What is interesting about the mix of clients is that you can’t pinpoint data maturity on the size of the company. Much of it is based on the people in the organization and their desire to be data literate and data mature. I find that if you think that what we have been taught or have done is the past will continue to work today, then you are holding back you and your company’s success. The reality is the data and its impact has so dramatically changed that a revolution in thinking is required.  

I encourage focusing on building foundational modern data capabilities and a scalable operating model, encouraging everyone to start early, start small and prove value. It also helps that our software in complementary to this recommendation, allowing them to build an operational control center, with visibility to how the data is connected so they can immediately understand the impact and be agile. This enables them to provide rapid incremental improvement vs boiling the ocean.