Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Peter Drucker said it, and after scaling data teams at major organizations, I can confirm it’s absolutely true—especially when it comes to data.
You can have the best data infrastructure, the smartest analysts, and the most sophisticated AI models, but if your culture doesn’t support data-driven decision making, none of it matters.
The Problem with Most “Data-Driven” Initiatives
I’ve seen countless companies declare they’re becoming “data-driven” only to fail spectacularly. The pattern is always the same:
- Executive announces data transformation
- Company hires data scientists
- Team builds dashboards nobody uses
- Executives still make decisions based on gut feel
- Data team becomes frustrated and leaves
- Company concludes “data-driven culture doesn’t work here”
Sound familiar?
What Actually Makes a Data-Driven Culture
After years of trial and error, here’s what I’ve learned actually works:
Start at the Top
Culture change doesn’t trickle up—it cascades down. If your executives don’t use data in their decision-making, nobody else will either.
At Westpac, we made every executive review start with data. Not buried in slide 47—front and center on slide 1. If you couldn’t back up your proposal with data, the meeting was rescheduled.
Was it uncomfortable at first? Absolutely. Did it work? Yes.
Make Data Accessible
Most companies have data. What they don’t have is accessible data. If someone needs to submit a ticket, wait three weeks, and learn SQL just to answer a simple question, they’ll give up and go with their gut.
We built self-service analytics platforms that non-technical people could actually use. Not dumbed down—actually designed for humans.
Celebrate Data Wins (and Failures)
When someone makes a decision based on data and it works, celebrate it loudly. When someone makes a data-driven decision that fails, celebrate that too.
The point isn’t to always be right—it’s to learn faster than your competitors. Data helps you do that, but only if people feel safe using it.
The Role of the Data Leader
As a data leader, your job isn’t to build models—it’s to build believers.
- Spend more time with business stakeholders than with your technical team
- Learn the business deeply
- Show quick wins before big transformations
- Be a translator between technical and business
- Say no to projects that won’t deliver business value
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Analysis paralysis - Perfect is the enemy of good. Make a decision.
- Dashboard graveyards - If nobody’s using it, kill it.
- Ivory tower syndrome - Get out of your office and talk to people.
- Death by metrics - Measure what matters, not everything.
Moving Forward
Building a data-driven culture takes time. At Westpac, it took us about three years to really take hold. At Cochlear, we’re applying these lessons but adapting them to a different industry and culture.
The key is persistence and authenticity. Don’t fake it. Don’t create theater. Actually use data, actually make it accessible, and actually celebrate both the wins and the learning opportunities.
Your culture will follow your actions, not your slide decks.