Guy Reams (00:01.666)
This is day 238, free people or free data. The value inherent in data currently held under lock and key should be free. Freedom, as we discovered in human history, produces economic growth. So it stands to reason that if you want your company to grow, free your data. Is this a workable theory? You hear this phrase all the time, we need to democratize data. So I wanted to think about that a little bit today. So I started thinking about my recent visit to a tire store.
You know, all companies gather data. Nowadays, all companies seem to spend, you know, a significant amount of time gathering data. I was getting some tires replaced a few months ago. The process required a significant amount of data input. Whereas just a few years ago, they did not even read my name. They just wanted to know the rim size of my tires. The data input process took longer than the process of replacing the tires. Well, it may not be exactly true, but it felt like it.
I was sitting there at this computer while they typed in all my details. And then as soon as they had my car in the stall, tires were on and done and I was out. It's got me to thinking, is this company in the business of replacing tires? Or are they in the business of collecting consumer data about tire purchases? Many companies are doing this now because we all understand that this data can be valuable at some point. We accept this is just a matter of fact now.
I do not have any accurate statistics on this. Still, I would venture to claim that we only use a small fraction of the data we collect in any company. There are some obvious cases. For example, I got a call about a tire rotation service from the same company. So clearly, they were using my last date of purchase and the manufacturer recommended rotation parade to enhance the relationship.
I want to prove that I should return to them with every tire. They want to prove to me that I should return to them with every tire purchase. However, what is the other data being used for? They might have a purpose, but I have been hanging around the IT environments for large enterprises for a long time. And so yeah, usually they're not. We are collecting data and unbeknownst to us, the more we collect, the more value it becomes.
Guy Reams (02:25.186)
But yet here we are as enterprise companies sitting on treasure troves of data. Many people will give you opinions on this. Still, I have some incredible ideas and practical implications from the most surprising places. Usually the best ideas come from an obvious solution created by someone faced with an expensive or very manual process. This is rarely the executive team and not the high price consulting firm. My apologies to the high price consulting people.
Value from data gets extracted by people solving unique and exciting challenges specific to the business and the division that is under the burden. Sure, some well -worn use cases happen and everyone starts to pick up on them. These usually become typical software applications and other tools that people can consume. Still, the new ideas that transform business typically come from pressure. I do not have any of this in front of me.
but I have sat through hundreds of presentations making this claim that data -centric companies have more growth. There are indications that companies with data -focused initiatives are more profitable and grow faster than those without. One reason cited is improved decision -making, but most studies point to employees feeling more appreciated and engaged in business outcomes. And this is an exciting connection between people that feel like...
They're free to explore ideas because they simply have access to information. When a company exposes data to employees, they feel more emboldened to figure things out and look at this data to help them think through an attempt to solve problems. You will hear the buzz like we talked about before, democratizing your data. But is this really data being democratized? No, it is the people. When the individuals dealing with the problems of the day have access to and can retrieve and use data,
They are more likely to solve the issues that are putting pressure on them. People feel more engaged and more empowered when they have access. The imperative, if this theory is true, is to increase accessibility to data, be willing to have transparency on what the data actually says, even if it's not what we like, and provide access and tools to everyone to learn to work with data to answer questions and to find answers.
Guy Reams (04:49.282)
Someone in the trenches at the tire company may figure out that they can predict when I need new tires and let me know when they have them in stock and at no wait appointment so I can show up and be there, be done in a total of 10 minutes. Chances are someone in that company has already had this idea and they are just being held captive. In shocking news, if you want people to be innovative, take ownership and solve problems that lead to some subsequent profit increases, you must treat people like they actually can do that.
At the end of the day, if you want your team to behave a certain way, treat them that way by giving them access to data. It's probably simple to say, but very hard to do.