Years ago, when I had a proper job – one that required me to go to an office and be around actual people – I learnt very quickly that requests for data projects often started with the answer rather than the question.
I would be approached by someone who would say: “Hello data person, I would like x data please.”
And whilst there is nothing wrong with these requests, they are… well… wrong.
Not because asking for data is wrong. But because the thing being requested often wouldn’t deliver the outcome that was actually wanted. If I had to do a Desert Island “5 key moments that changed how I think or work”, this would probably make the list.
Why? Because I stopped diving straight into the details of the request and started asking a different question.
∞ What is the objective?
∞ What are you trying to achieve?
∞ What decision are you trying to make?
∞ What happens next?
∞ Does the data need to go somewhere? Trigger something? Support a campaign? Feed a report? Change behaviour?
Because once I understood the objective, the original request would usually change.
In the intervening years, I have honed my one burning question, so it’s no longer consciously applied, it is my automatic response to questions. If I receive an email asking to provide a quote, I will set up a call to run through what the objectives are. If it’s a client I’m working with and they ask for something extra, I will ask why they need it, what is it for?
Having a clear view of the objective is the first step on any journey. It might be knowing how data is going to be used to manage a project, or it might be understanding what your organisation wants to achieve over the next three years. Yes, one is tactical and one is strategic, but they both play their part.
And that’s why my one burning question has stayed the same. Because if you don’t know what success looks like, how do you know whether the thing you’re asking for is actually the thing you need? Sometimes the answer is exactly what was requested. Sometimes it isn’t. But I’ve learnt that understanding the objective first almost always leads to better questions, better decisions and better outcomes.
I’ve got some space over the coming months to help teams shape projects, challenge assumptions and work out what they’re actually trying to achieve before jumping into solutions.
And if you know a team with a project, a problem or a vague feeling that “something isn’t working”, I’d really appreciate an introduction.
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