When Gut Instinct Isn’t Enough
Jose Almeida
👉 Freelance Data Consultant/Advisor 🎯 Data Strategy | Data Governance | Data Quality | Master Data Management 🌏 Remote/Onsite Consulting Services in EMEA
We’re no strangers to the allure of gut-based decision-making. It feels empowering and, at times, even heroic to “go with the gut” and make swift calls.
As many organizations have learned, these instinctual wins are often coincidental rather than the product of strategic foresight. To secure consistent, reliable success in today’s complex landscape, businesses need more than instinct—they need data, and they need data governance.
Data governance provides a structured approach to managing data to make it reliable, accessible, and secure. This oversight enables teams to act on accurate information rather than vague perceptions. While relying solely on instinct may yield occasional wins, it’s not sustainable. Data governance ensures that all business decisions are built on a solid foundation of high-quality data that supports informed actions.
Consider a scenario where a company’s product team wants to enter a new market based on “insider knowledge” and perceived demand. Without data governance in place, they may lack accurate insights to verify market trends or understand potential competitors. Conversely, with data governance, teams have access to validated data that highlights customer preferences, competitor moves, and emerging industry patterns. Here, data governance doesn’t just confirm or challenge a gut feeling—it can reveal new opportunities or risks that would otherwise be missed, creating a significant advantage in decision-making.
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One of the strongest cases for data governance is its role in building accountability and reducing organizational risks. In regulated industries, for instance, data governance safeguards compliance by ensuring that sensitive information is effectively managed. For all businesses, data governance creates transparency, making it clear who is responsible for data integrity and how decisions are made. This culture of accountability is crucial, especially when facing complex challenges or reporting to stakeholders who expect data-driven transparency.
Data governance also brings speed without sacrificing accuracy. Many leaders worry that data oversight will slow down the decision-making process, particularly in fast-paced markets. However, with data governance, clean, well-organized data is accessible in real-time, ready to inform decisions swiftly and accurately. This means that rather than making guesses in high-stakes situations, leaders can turn to verified data to guide their decisions, mitigating risk without losing momentum.
The primary objection to data governance is often the perceived complexity and cost. This initial investment pays for itself by preventing costly errors down the road. When data is as valuable as any asset, poorly managed data doesn’t just lead to inefficiency; it can lead to financial losses, reputational damage, and compliance risks. Data governance enhances the value of data by ensuring it’s clean, consistent, and actionable.
Ultimately, gut-based decisions are no match for the power of data governance. While intuition may occasionally lead to success, it’s neither reliable nor scalable. Data governance ensures that every decision is informed, strategic, and grounded in reality, making it a crucial component of any modern organization’s playbook. As businesses strive to innovate and grow, data governance is the backbone of sustainable, data-driven success.
Chief Data & AI Officer | Coach | Building Bridges with Data & AI | Book Author | Founder of chiefdata.ai
3moInteresting turn on why data governance. Going back to gut-based decisions, the experience says those might be working well for initial feel of where the problem might be with data. Sometimes these gut-feelings are basically untold or yet non - confirmed DQ issues that people otherwise struggle to formulate. So, as an indication where to check for data challenges - quite often would worth to be validated. But then, the next steps already shall be more objective and discipline led. Thank you for the great thoughts, Jose!
Senior Info/Data Management Professional - Experienced Senior Leader in multiple Data Management disciplines - Data Strategy | Data Governance | Data Protection | Data Privacy
3mo"Data governance also brings speed without sacrificing accuracy. Many leaders worry that data oversight will slow down the decision-making process, particularly in fast-paced markets." - This presupposes that the data is already in a fit state. For most organisations (IMO) their data in their operational systems, therefore also in their decision support systems, are not in the fully fit state for the decision making purposes, which is why most data conferences are banging the DG drum. It should also be recognised the time and financial investment to achieve the desired state can be significant due to the long-term lack of investment in that part of the organisation, so there's a long way to come back from wrt data fitness for purpose. Gut feel and instincts will almost always be required to because the organisation, in the vast majority of cases (IMO) won't have the requisite data for all their decision making needs, and we need to allow for people's biases and experiences from whence else they've come that will influence their decision making abilities.