It's not all about the data: Why analytics alone can't make a company great

Building a company isn't a paint-by-numbers game. Blippar's Head of Data, Strategy and Corporate Development, Dan Horner, above, believes data must never be separated from a firm's vision and the gut instinct of its leaders.

‘It’s not all about the data’ may seem a curious choice of title for a blog written by someone who heads up a data team, but let me explain. There is no doubt that Big Data (volumes of data so enormous that traditional methods of processing it become redundant) is big business these days; a quick Factiva search shows the term has been published in over 17,000 articles in the past month alone. But I find it concerning that in the current climate of Data Scientists being more in vogue than Cara Delevingne, there's a growing sense that building a successful company is solely about ‘painting by numbers’. I completely disagree.

Data is, of course, one of the key ingredients needed for a business to function – but only one. For me, the key to establishing a truly great enterprise with a long and prosperous future is entirely down to the constant and fluid interplay between three key things: its mission and vision, the instinct and judgment of its leadership team, and being data-focused.

Mission & Vision

A company’s mission and vision is its beating heart; it's what gets you out of bed in the morning and, perhaps more importantly, keeps you in the office late into the night. If you're not motivated to crack the ultimate problem your company exists to solve, how can you expect to carry out your role with any creativity, pride or sense of adventure?

A genuine belief in your company’s ultimate ambition will enable you to tackle even your most micro-tasks with real passion and flair. Without a compelling mission, people will lack the excitement and curiosity required to find those elusive insights from the data.

Instinct & Judgement

Though powerful insights can be gained from data accidentally – which is why empowering the whole organisation to understand and value your numerical findings, rather than keeping them locked within a specific, siloed department is so crucial – the majority of analytical work conducted will stem from a question or hypothesis originating from a gut feeling. Queries such as: Should we expand in to Asia? Are millennials are most valuable users? What new features should we add to our product?

And no matter how reliable and fast the architecture, or how sophisticated and rigorous the processes, inferences will still need to be drawn from the resulting data, which will again, always come down to some element of instinct. Data analysis is always bookended by human judgement, and the power of insight gained will rely on the quality of questions asked and inferences made.

Data

At its most fundamental level, data is the barometer of a company’s success; it allows you to see if your business is on the right track and in which direction you should be heading. When married with sound judgement, data will help you make informed decisions greatly enhancing the likelihood of your mission being achieved.

One of my main objectives at Blippar is for data to be inextricably woven into the company’s culture; I want data to be at the core of the business, in terms of product development, our client value proposition and all strategic decisions.

Collaboration

Just as it is important to show numerical findings in context, it's also critical for the data team of any business to be seen contextually: as an incredibly important and valuable function, but not the only one. Ultimately, a company’s brain and eyes must work in harmony with its heart and its gut if it wishes to go from being a good one, to being a truly great one.