8429753018 8371059247 2953014687 7439852012 9105738249 5296471083 47821515730 3516842975 0946837105 2012746839 8249617082 6025871340 2469317085 4180392574 8761350748 9028756394 8215970642 5309146872 8439602587 0785246931 3018649702 9247638051 1468729351 5201274683 3824961708 4710832597 2157308514 4297530186 3710592476 8615903728 3705246917 1064978251 9705618247 5429063815 0941687235 57824 05378 9304278615 5109492876 2358617490 5129760438 5104698725 8395107268 0825496310 9761408392 1492673510 1864970235 4763805129 6872935104 2012746839 8249617082 7108325976 1515730851 8429753018 6837105924 1274683951 2496170825 6025871340 5246931708 641803925 9287613507 1749028756 604382159 9872530914 1072684396 549631078 684297530 468371059 867295301 120674398 728469105 691730852 782513069 618247903 906381572 941207586 642831957 687250391 025871340 246931708 641803925 928761350 174902875 604382159
84297530186497023586174902875639412075869304278615903728469105738249617082549631078524693170852469031875429063815720946 837105924763805129760438215970642831957026489137052469173085296471083259761408392576418039257461098372509416872350941867 29530146872935104698725309146872503916478295310649782513069478215730851492673510949287613507482691063957824 053788591206 74398520127468395107268439602587134095276834297056182479035168429753018649702358617490287563941207586930427861590372846 910573824961708254963107852469317085246903187542906381572094683710592476380512976043821597064283195702648913705246917308 529647108325976140839257641803925746109837250941687235094186729530146872935104698725309146872503916478295310649782513069 47821515730851492673510949287613507482691063957824 053788591206743985201274683951072684396025871340952768342970561824790 35168429753018649702358617490287563941207586930427861590372846910573824961708254963107852469317085246903187542906381572 09468371059247638051297604382159706428319570264891370524615730851492673510949287613507482691063957824 053788591206743985 20127468395107268439602587134095276834297056182479035168429753018649702358617490287563941207586930427861590372846910573 82496170825496310785246931708524690318754290638157209468371059247638051297604382159706428319570264891370524695107268439 60258713409527683429705618247903516842975301864970235861749028756394120758693042786159037284691057382496170825496310785 24693170852469031875429063815720946837105924763805129760438215970642831957026489137052469173085296471083259761408392576 418039257461098372509416872350941867295301468729351046987253091468725039164782953106497825130694782157308514926735109492 87613507482691063957824 053788591206743985201274683951072684396025871340952768342970561824790351684297530186497023586174 90287563941207586930427861590372846910573824961708254963107852469317085246903187542906381572094683710592476380512976043 82159706428319570264891370524691730852964710832597614083925764180392574610983725094168723509418672953014687293510469872 5309146872503916478295310649782513069478215730851492673510949287613507482691063957824 0537885912067439852012746839510726 84396025871340952768342970561824790351684297530186497023586174902875639412075869304278615903728469105738249617082549631 07852469317085246903187542906381572094683710592476380512976043821599510726843960258713409527683429705618247903516842975 30186497023586174902875639412075869304278615903728469105738249617082549631078524693170852469031875429063815720946837105 92476380512976043821597064283195702648913705246917308529647108325976140839257641803925746109837250941687235094186729530 146872935104698725309146872503916478295310649782513069478215730851492673510949287613507482691063957824 05378859120674398 52012746839510726843960258713409527683429705618247903516842975301864970235861749028756394120758693042786159037284691057 38249617082549631078524693170852469031875429063815720946837105924763805129760438215970642831957026489137052469173085296 47108325976140839257641803925746109837250941687235094186729530146872935104698725309146872503916478295310649782513069478 215730851492673510949287613507482691063957824 05378859120674398520127468395107268439602587134095276834297056182479035168 42975301864970235861749028756394120758693042786159037284691057382496170825496310785246931708524690318754290638157209468 37105924763805129760438215995107268439602587134095276834297056182479035168429753018649702358617490287563941207586930427 86159037284691057382496170825496310785246931708524690318754290638157209468371059247638051297604382159706428319570264891 37052469173085296471083259761408392576418039257461098372509416872350941867295301468729351046987253091468725039164782953 10649782513069478215730851492673510949287613507482691063957824 053788591206743985201274683951072684396025871340952768342 97056182479035168429753018649702358617490287563941207586930427861590372846910573824961708254963107852469317085246903187 54290638157209468371059247638051297604382159706428319570264891370524691730852964710832597614083925764180392574610983725 09416872350941867295301468729351046987253091468725039164782953106497825130694782157308514926735109492876135074826910639 57824 05378859120674398520127468395107268439602587134095276834297056182479035168429753018649702358617490287563941207586 93042786159037284691057382496170825496310785246931708524690318754290638157209468371059247638051297604382159730851492673 510949287613507482691063957824 0537885912067439852012746839510726843960258713409527683429705618247903516842975301864970 2358617490287563941207586930427861590372846910573824961708254963107852469317085246903187542906381572094683710592476380 51297604382159706428319570264891370524691730852964710832597614083925764180392574610983725094168723509418672953014687293 5104698725309146872503916478295310649782513069478215730851492673510949287613507482691063957824 0537885912067439852012746 83951072684396025871340952768342970561824790351684297530186497023586174902875639412075869304278615903728469105738249617 08254963107852469317085246903187542906381572094683710592476380512976043821597064283195702648913705246917308529647108325 97614083925764180392574610983725094168723509418672953014687293510469872530914687250391647829531064978251306947821573085 1492673510949287613507482691063957824 053788591206743985201274683951072684396025871340952768342970561824790351684297530 18649702358617490287563941207586930427861590372846910573824961708254963107852469317085246903187542906381572094683710592 47638051297604382159706428319570264891370524691730852964710832597614083925764180392574610983725094168723509418672953014 6872935104698725309146872503916478295310649782513069478215730851492673510949287613507482691063957824 053788591206743985 20127468395107268439602587134095276834297056182479035168429753018649702358617490287563941207586930427861590372846910573 82496170825496310785246931708524690318754290638157209468371059247638051297604382159706428319570264891370524691730852964 71083259761408392576418039257461098372509416872350941867295301468729351046987253091468725039164782953106497825130694782 1515730851492673510949287613507482691063957824 0537885912067439852012746839510726843960258713409527683429705618247903516 8429753018649702358617490287563941207586930427861590372846910573824961708254963107852469317085246903187542906381572094 68371059247638051297604382159706428319570264891370524615730851492673510949287613507482691063957824 05378859120674398520 1274683951072684396025871340952768342970561824790351684297530186497023586174902875639412075869304278615903728469105738 2496170825496310785246931708524690318754290638157209468371059247638051297604382159706428319570264891370524695107268439 6025871340952768342970561824790351684297530186497023586174902875639412075869304278615903728469105738249617082549631078 52469317085246903187542906381572094683710592476380512976043821597064283195702648913705246917308529647108325976140839257 64180392574610983725094168723509418672953014687293510469872530914687250391647829531064978251306947821573085149267351094 9287613507482691063957824 053788591206743985201274683951072684396025871340952768342970561824790351684297530186497023586 1749028756394120758693042786159037284691057382496170825496310785246931708524690318754290638157209468371059247638051297 60438215970642831957026489137052469173085296471083259761408392576418039257461098372509416872350941867295301468729351046 98725309146872503916478295310649782513069478215730851492673510949287613507482691063957824 05378859120674398520127468395 1072684396025871340952768342970561824790351684297530186497023586174902875639412075869304278615903728469105738249617082 5496310785246931708524690318754290638157209468371059247638051297604382159951072684396025871340952768342970561824790351 6842975301864970235861749028756394120758693042786159037284691057382496170825496310785246931708524690318754290638157209 46837105924763805129760438215970642831957026489137052469173085296471083259761408392576418039257461098372509416872350941 86729530146872935104698725309146872503916478295310649782513069478215730851492673510949287613507482691063957824 05378859 1206743985201274683951072684396025871340952768342970561824790351684297530186497023586174902875639412075869304278615903 7284691057382496170825496310785246931708524690318754290638157209468371059247638051297604382159706428319570264891370524 6917308529647108325976140839257641803925746109837250941687235094186729530146872935104698725309146872503916478295310649 782513069478215730851492673510949287613507482691063957824 0537885912067439852012746839510726843960258713409527683429705 6182479035168429753018649702358617490287563941207586930427861590372846910573824961708254963107852469317085246903187542 9063815720946837105924763805129760438215995107268439602587134095276834297056182479035168429753018649702358617490287563 9412075869304278615903728469105738249617082549631078524693170852469031875429063815720946837105924763805129760438215970 6428319570264891370524691730852964710832597614083925764180392574610983725094168723509418672953014687293510469872530914 6872503916478295310649782513069478215730851492673510949287613507482691063957824 053788591206743985201274683951072684396 0258713409527683429705618247903516842975301864970235861749028756394120758693042786159037284691057382496170825496310785 2469317085246903187542906381572094683710592476380512976043821597064283195702648913705246917308529647108325976140839257 64180392574610983725094168723509418672953014687293510469872530914687250391647829531064978251306947821573085149267351094 9287613507482691063957824 053788591206743985201274683951072684396025871340952768342970561824790351684297530186497023586 1749028756394120758693042786159037284691057382496170825496310785246931708524690318754290638157209468371059247638051297 604382159
3
Transform your organisation into a data-driven powerhouse in 7 essential steps
Joachim De vos
W h y d ata w i n s
4
CONTENTS Author’s Preface
INTRODUCTION
9
From misunderstood value to strategic advantage CEO, operational leader, innovation manager: this book is for you What you will discover
13 14 15 16
PART 1 - WHY
18
The primal urge to count Data processing and predictable data The start of modern registration systems Global network of signals
19 25 27 29 34
WHY DATA?
FIVE WAVES OF DATA EVOLUTION From counting to steering Why some organisations move faster Data Wave Scan™ From insight to direction CASE: The Imagination Quotient
39 40 42 43 44 45
PART 2 - DATA
52
The data forest and the coffee beans Big data 6V Maturity Compass™ for data excellence Metcalfe’s law CASE: Data tipping point: information emergence
53 54 70 80 88 92
WHAT ARE DATA?
DATA SCIENCE, THE ART OF BECOMING SMARTER
97 Anatomy of data science 99 Three persistent misconceptions about data science 103 The human behind the data: teams, π-profiles 105 Pushback 108
PART 3 - FAILS/WINS
110
Why do so many data initiatives get stuck? Which causes feed that failure? Data quality is still not taken seriously enough What do winners do differently, and what can you change tomorrow? Case KBC: From bank account to life guide
111 113 114 115 122 124
WHY YOU WIN, OR FAIL, WITH DATA
PART 4 - THE 7 STEPS TO VICTORY HOW DO YOU BUILD A DATA-CENTRIC POWERHOUSE?
138 139
KEY 1
FRAME: THINK BEFORE YOU MEASURE Frame – thinking before you start measuring The Black Box Canvas™ – focus before technology
142 143 144
KEY 2
CAPTURE: COLLECT WHAT MATTERS
Capture – collect what matters Data procurement: when your own data are not enough CASE: Web scraping with Octoparse CASE: Kaggle: the treasure trove of datasets and data science expertise
148 149 151 153 156
KEY 3
STORE: BUILD YOUR DATA FOUNDATION
Store – as if you really dare to build on it later Store reality check
160 161 177
KEY 4
EXPLORE: ANALYSE WITH INSIGHT Explore – turning raw data into insight Data Analysis Canvas
182 183 186
KEY 5
VISUALISE: WHAT YOU KNOW
Visualise – insight becomes visible F.O.C.U.S. – Five principles for powerful data visualisation The FT Visual Vocabulary as a strategic tool
190 191 200 207
KEY 6
ACT: FROM INSIGHT TO ACTION
Act – action and learning CASE: Lessons from Fluvius CASE: The Imelda Moment CASE: aiGust – From data chaos to the power of collaboration CASE: Why most AI projects fail before they even begin
218 219 221 224 234 238
KEY 7
GROW: BUILD A DATA CULTURE
Grow – behaviour Data literacy in six steps Imagination Quotient: the missing link Seven pitfalls to avoid
APPENDIX WHY BAYESIAN THINKING IS NOW A LEADERSHIP SKILL
242 243 244 250 257
Bayes’ theorem Why Bayes is so powerful in management decisions
268 269 270
Glossary – Data & AI
282
Video and podcast about the book
287
W h y d ata w i n s
8
Foreword by Herman Van Rompuy, President Emeritus of the European Council and Minister of State
Watch the book launch aftermovie
So far, I have devoted my life to innovation and the future. For more than thirty years, I have been able to call my passion my profession: helping companies explore what tomorrow will bring and how they can start shaping it today. I did this from the very beginning, in 1995, at Living Tomorrow in Brussels and Amsterdam, an internationally active organisation that develops projects around living, working and life in the future. We worked on immersing thousands of organisations and millions of visitors in their future, all driven by the same curiosity: what will our future look like, and how do we prepare for it? I later continued this work through my involvement with Ghent University and through my own strategy companies focused on the future and innovation. What I saw time and again was that visions of the future rarely fail because of a lack of ambition. They fail because of a lack of data literacy. People underestimate how decisive data are for the success of every new product, every service, every process. I still vividly remember the first kitchen computer from 1995, which allowed you to do teleshopping via the early internet. Or the very first remote video doorbell. I programmed all these applications myself, simply because they did not yet exist. Around the table were companies such as Philips, Microsoft, Carrefour, then GB, NCR and AT&T. Everyone thought they were fascinating gadgets to show in the ‘House of the Future’, but the real potential lay elsewhere: in understanding customers through data and in realising that every digital contact says something about behaviour, preference and intent. On the other side of the world, a young entrepreneur was driven by a similar conviction: Jeff Bezos. His online bookshop seemed marginal, but he saw what almost no one saw at the time: data would become not only the engine of sales, but also the engine of trust and personalisation. He understood that data could deepen relationships, not just accelerate transactions.
Au t hor ’ s Pre fac e
AUTHOR’S PREFACE
9
10
Watch my meeting with Bill Gates
Bill Gates was my guest at the opening of our first House of the Future in 1995. He immediately sensed both the power and the chaos of the internet. His first response was understandable: ‘The web is too unstructured to do business on.’ At the time, Microsoft was the company making the world more efficient, so his reflex was to create order. The answer was the Microsoft Network (MSN), a structured digital platform where knowledge was offered in a clear and reliable way. I still treasure the short film he had made at the time (see the QR code). He was visibly impressed by what he saw: homeshopping and internet services as the beating heart of the house of the future. It was completely new, something that did not yet exist anywhere. And yet it felt like a glimpse of what was to come. Gates saw how technology, connectivity and data together heralded a new era. During his visit, as we walked around, he said something I have never forgotten: ‘Microsoft must become the core of our daily lives in this future, nothing less than that. Information at your fingertips.’ A few months later, he published his book The Road Ahead, in which that ambition was embraced in full. Information at your fingertips perfectly captured what I have since seen happening all over the world: technology becoming human and data gaining meaning. What connects my experiences is timing rather than technology. I had the privilege of seeing these developments emerge, in prototypes, conversations and experiments, long before they became mainstream. That is an observation point, not an achievement. From that position, I saw the same pattern again and again: those who understand data see sooner and make better decisions. I later founded TomorrowLab Consulting out of my MBA studies at KUL/FBS in Belgium and Kellogg in Chicago: a strategy and foresight company that helps organisations find direction in a world of constant change. For about ten years now, I have also been trying to pass this on to students at Ghent University, the leaders of tomorrow. By now, it is very clear to me that data are the connecting language between vision and execution. The language of the eye is form, colour and pattern; the language of the brain is numbers, words and concepts. Eye and brain together create direction: strategic direction. The challenge for most organisations is that they do not yet know how to find that direction. They measure without understanding, collect without connecting, and too often compare themselves with others instead of forging their own path. The future belongs to leaders who dare to think as Gates and Bezos did back then. They were visionaries who saw what was coming and, above all, understood
11 Au t hor ’ s Pre fac e
why it mattered. The winner is not the one with the most data; what matters is daring to understand them and using them to rewrite the future.
At the opening of Living Tomorrow Amsterdam, the CEO of CMG, later CGI, said something I have never forgotten: ‘Innovation is seeing what everyone sees, but doing what no one does.’ That is exactly what data make possible. You learn to see what others overlook because it remains misunderstood. Data make ideas discussable. Through the right visualisations and storytelling, even opposing viewpoints become clearly visible and open to discussion. I like Connect with me on to call this visual democratisation. LinkedIn
VISUAL DEMOCRATISATION A process in which images, visualisations and data-driven visualisation tools are used to make insight and conversation accessible to everyone in the organisation, regardless of role, technical skill or background, so that decisions are made through a broadly supported and visually informed debate, rather than exclusively by a small technocratic elite. For me, visual democratisation also includes your feedback, because it is crucial to continually improving this book. I invite you to connect with me on LinkedIn, where I regularly post updates on data, data science and innovation. Personal You can also reach me there directly with ideas, suggestions or questions. The message from Joachim QR codes in the book help keep the content relevant and up to date: a direct connection between the knowledge on paper and the rapidly changing digital world. Your insights help me continue to strengthen this bridge. Time to reap the rewards!
W h y d ata w i n s
12
In May 2017, The Economist put data on a pedestal on its cover (see Figure 1). Oil, the world’s most valuable resource, had been displaced by data. Most organisations have more data than ever and yet they make worse decisions than they did ten years ago. There are more dashboards, reports and AI experiments, and less clarity, ownership and real decision-making. Does that make you uncomfortable? Then you are the right reader for this book.
Figure 1 The world’s most valuable resource.
introduction
INTRODUCTION
13
W h y d ata w i n s
14
From misunderstood value to strategic advantage This first strategic book on data had to be written because, in a striking number of organisations, data are used to postpone, legitimise or hide decisions. Data have become a shield instead of a compass. That is precisely what makes organisations slower, more fearful and less sharp, while the world is accelerating. Today, the comparison falls short for what data really are. Oil is scarce, finite, loses value after use and is traded on anonymous markets. Data grow, gain value through use and through context, timing and interpretation. They multiply, growing with every click, choice and interaction. That makes them powerful and ambiguous: they can flourish as an ecosystem of insight or run rampant like weeds of noise, bias and privacy debt. In this book, I cultivate data rather than turning them into a repository. Data provide strategic advantage: direction, choices and action. My research into data provided the motivation for this book. NewVantage Partners, now Wavestone, tracked more than a thousand Fortune 1000 executives for twelve years. Each year, Randy Bean and Thomas Davenport asked the same question: How far along are you on the journey towards data-driven working? The figures, even after twelve years, are staggering. If you pull apart two layers – saying and doing – that is when it gets really interesting. Table 1 The percentages from 2023 show that organisations often say something different from what they actually do.
Say
Do
88% see data & analytics as a top priority for the organisation
24% actually have a data-driven organisation
87% claim to deliver measurable business value from their data investments
21% have built a data culture
83% have appointed a Chief Data Officer
40% manage data as a strategic business asset
82% are actively increasing their investment in data & analytics
41% genuinely compete on the basis of analytics
In 2024, enthusiasm around GenAI emerges. Organisations experiment extensively. Nevertheless, there is little integration: 60% say versus 5% do. Why, then? The majority of executives point to culture, people and processes, not to
Data are already shaping the future, and too many leaders still treat them as a technical issue. They are not. Data are a strategic leadership issue. As a leader, you will probably recognise this. Your organisation has invested heavily in data, analytics or AI. Pilots are running; dashboards look professional. What lags behind are decisions. Or gut-feeling decisions are justified afterwards with data, or they are postponed because the figures are supposedly not yet complete.
CEO, operational leader, innovation manager: this book is for you In my conversations as a sounding board, I usually meet CxOs from organisations all over the world. They ask different questions about data and its usefulness. Usually, they get technical answers or jargon. Do you know my previous book on innovation, Why Innovation Fails (2022)? Then you know this cannot be a technical manual full of code and algorithms. For those who do not know that book: I do not write manifestos for data scientists, because they have their own libraries. This book is for you. The CEO who receives a strategic dashboard every week and wonders: Fine, but what am I supposed to do with this now? The marketing director who senses that customer data are worth their weight in gold, but does not know how to mine that gold. The operational manager who knows processes could be smarter, but is drowning in spreadsheets without insight. The innovation leader who wants to build future scenarios based on data, not gut feeling. The SME entrepreneur with limited resources who understands that data-driven working is no longer a luxury, but a matter of survival. The public official or politician who wants to make policy that reflects the reality of today, not yesterday. The research officer who has to translate complex data into clear policy advice. In other words, for each of us who makes decisions every day and feels: data are important, but I want to understand them without becoming a programmer
15 introduction
technology. At the same time, those same organisations invest hardly anything in data literacy and cultural change. This is more a case of failed leadership than technical failure. A good reason, then, for me to focus on leadership in this book. How do you turn data back into a compass and your organisation into a data powerhouse? Insight, expertise and transformation are essential, so that dashboards, tools and investments are used to their full potential.
W h y d ata w i n s
16
myself. Because that is what is missing. We talk about AI as if it were magic; here and there you already hear voices saying that AI is the next hype bubble. We build dashboards as if they were the end goal, and ML and AI already have hundreds of tools. Data science is not a report factory. It is a way of thinking. A way to look better, understand better and decide better in a world that changes every second.
What you will discover In this book, I try to give you a strategic compass in the data galaxy. I do this on the basis of my personal experiences and the insights I have gained from the many organisations I have spoken to, met and had the opportunity to analyse. You will receive a practical roadmap in four parts. 1. WHY. Why data are the most crucial lever for change: the urgency, the wonder, the proof that you lose relevance and speed if you are not driven by data. 2. DATA. What data really are and how data science works, explained strategically, without becoming overly technical, with basic concepts that allow you to join the conversation: to talk to experts, ask the right questions and understand what is possible. 3. FAILS/WINS. Why 87% of data initiatives fail and what the 13% of winners do differently: the contrast between dashboard swamps and real decision-making power. 4. THE 7 STEPS TO VICTORY A practical blueprint for turning your organisation into a data-centric powerhouse, ready for the next century of artificially augmented intelligence. What do the most successful companies get right? How do you collect relevant data and build a culture in which insights lead to action? You get tools, frameworks and cases, so you can start applying them immediately. This is what you will discover: • What data literacy really means: a new way of thinking, not programming. • How to assess your organisation’s data maturity and improve it step by step. • Which steps are needed to unlock and protect valuable data. • How to translate data into concrete business insights that directly stimulate action.
Whether you work in industry, healthcare, retail, government or financial services, chances are your organisation is sitting on a goldmine of data. Data are only valuable when you do something with them, and that requires a leader with vision, not a technician. A leader like you.
The future belongs to those who turn data into direction. The fact that you have this book in your hands means you are already further ahead than most leaders. You recognise that data literacy is a necessity, not an option. You understand that in today’s economy, the winners are those who work smartest, with data as a strategic lever. We stand on the threshold of a new era in which data inform and transform, insights emerge from intelligent analysis and leaders follow the most well-substantiated voice. Welcome to that era. Welcome to the journey from data to decision-making power. Do not expect this book to confirm how you work with data today. Do expect occasional discomfort, and be prepared to question your decisions and reflexes, because that is when it works.
17 introduction
• How to build a culture in which data insights take centre stage, without losing human intuition. • How to enter into conversation with data experts with confidence. • How to let products and services improve themselves through data feedback loops.
W h y d ata w i n s
18
PART 1
WHY
1
WHY DATA? The CEO Who Couldn’t Breathe
Thursday afternoon, June 2025. I am in the boardroom of a leading telecom company with its management team. As a neutral adviser, perhaps I can help them gain strategic insight. Dashboards flash across the screen: revenue figures, conversion rates, customer satisfaction scores. Mostly red. The CFO lists what has gone wrong, the CMO defends her campaigns and the COO points to operational problems. ‘Stop, everyone,’ the CEO suddenly says. ‘Can you just tell me: why are our customers no longer buying?’ Silence. Someone points to a graph. ‘Conversion has fallen by 12%.’ ‘Yes, I can see that. But why?’ ‘Traffic is stable, but–’ ‘Why are they not converting?’ More silence. They have mountains of data. Terabytes of click behaviour, transaction history, feedback forms. They have dashboards that show every figure to three decimal places. They even have a Chief Data Officer and a team of data scientists. What they do not have is someone who can answer the question. Nothing will happen, except waiting, or calling even more customers to ask whether they want to convert. At that moment, I realise: data are not a luxury, they are oxygen, and this organisation is suffocating.
p a r t 1 - w h y ? | 1 w h y d ata?
19
W h y d ata w i n s
20
If you have no oxygen, it ends now, immediately; it does not take a week. The same applies to organisations. Without data – or rather, without the ability to turn data into insight – you lose market share this week, today, this hour. It does not take a year. Tesla knows in real time whether your brakes are wearing down. Spotify knows which song you want to hear next before you do. Waze knows where traffic jams are forming before you are in them. Your smart hospital knows that you are at risk of sepsis before you feel feverish. Your competitor? They know what your customers want before you realise they are leaving. The question is not whether you have data. The question is whether you can breathe. During the meeting in June, and almost daily in just about every organisation, the question is asked: fine, but what do the data say? Usually, the most honest answer is: data say nothing at all as long as we do not know what data are, how we treat them and where they create value. Data are anything you can record, such as: • figures in spreadsheets; • the 47 seconds a customer spends on your homepage; • the word ‘disappointed’ in an email; • the two stars in an app review; • the photo someone shares of your product; • the 18°C in your warehouse at three o’clock at night; • your heart rate during a presentation. Raw data are noise and only gain meaning when you transform them: Data → Information → Insight → Action → Impact If we apply this transformation to the breathless CEO that Thursday afternoon: data: 12% drop in conversion → information: mainly among new customers on mobile → insight: check-out requires five steps on small screens; people give up at step 3 → action: simplify check-out to two steps with Apple Pay integration → impact: conversion rises by 28% in six weeks. Data are always there, but nothing changes if no one transforms them into a question that leads to action. Want to know what to do with data? I use six characteristics to determine how to work with them: the 6 Vs. This will be discussed in detail later in the book, but here is the essence: 1. How much data do we have? From megabytes to zettabytes: Volume. 2. How quickly do we have them available? From daily reports to real-time streams: Velocity.