Wiley & sas business Series

   Common Characteristics 
 Organizations that revolve around this perspective often lurch from 
bad decision to bad decision. They have little understanding of how 
to defi ne, manage, or even use information effectively. Because 
of this, decisions are made not on weight of evidence but on force of 
personality. Sometimes, through sheer serendipity, they get it right. 
Unfortunately, that single success usually justifi es years of subsequent 
failures. 
 Culture doesn ’t magically appear. At some point, it was created 
because of its environment. Because of this, it ’s hard to fault their reli-
ance on experience over evidence. More often than not, their data is 
usually fragmented, of highly variable quality, and generally not trust-
worthy. Usually, their culture was created by this very lack of informa-
tion. However, this doesn ’t forgive  perpetuating  a dysfunctional culture. 
As this culture becomes the dominant one, they progressively ignore 
the root cause of their bad data: their own behaviors. 
 Analytics is seen as either being “too hard” or outright untrust-
worthy. If the data contradicts popular opinion, the default position is 
that the data is incorrect. Results are cherry-picked to support particu-
lar positions. In any given meeting, a substantial proportion of time is 
usually spent arguing what the right numbers are. 
 The almost total absence of data-driven decision making creates 
a vicious cycle. Decisions are made in the absence of data. When the 
organization acts on these decisions, this same lack of data makes it 
impossible to measure the effectiveness of those decisions. Because 
there ’s no traceability, everyone claims credit for successes and dis-
owns failures. The successes people are happy to acknowledge justify 
the power of pure experience-based decision making. Because failures 
are ignored or outright covered up, this biased view ends up reinforc-
ing the dominant culture. 

---

52 
▸
  
B I G   D A T A ,   B I G   I N N O V A T I O N
 Ironically, everyone normally agrees that things should be better. 
Sadly, the dominant culture prevents anyone from actually doing any-
thing differently. And so, while things are obviously not as effective as 
they could be, the status quo remains. 
 Being comfortable with this perspective does have advantages:
 
◼
   Egalitarianism.  Success and internal experience is valued 
above all. Whether it ’s through experience or intuition, those 
who succeed are frequently promoted to positions of power and 
infl uence. 
 
◼
  Clarity of ownership.  Sources of power are centralized and 
either explicitly or tacitly understood. Decisions rarely rely on 
consensus—specifi c individuals often have sole decision- making 
capability due to their experience. While they may or may not 
consult, they will eventually rely on their intuition taking into 
account the information presented to them. 
 
◼
  Trust.  Those with the authority to make decisions are conferred 
a high degree of trust by the leadership team of the organization. 
This often encourages self-determination, personal responsibil-
ity, and the ability for individual units within the organization 
to operate semi-autonomously.   
 However, it does come with disadvantages. Some indicators of an 
organization excessively grounded in this perspective are:
 
◼
   HiPPO leadership.  The data people need to make their deci-
sions either doesn ’t exist or isn ’t trusted. Analytics is rarely 
(if ever) applied. Subjectivity and gut-feel is the standard 
operating model, usually dictated by the  highest-paid person ’s 
opinion . 
 
◼
  Unconsidered reaction.  Firefi ghting is common and decisions 
are made without any clarity on how their effectiveness will 
be measured. Knee-jerk reactions are common and while plans 
may be made, they ’re rarely held to. 
 
◼
  Fragmented inconsistency.  Decisions are made without 
consideration of their broader impacts. Outcomes are rarely 
(if ever) measured, making it impossible to understand what ’s 
working and what isn ’t. Fiefdoms abound and decisions are 

---

T H E   C U L T U R A L   I M P E R A T I V E
 
◂
 53
made on self-interest rather than based on organizational 
objectives. 
 
◼
  Self-delusion and outright denial.  Successes are claimed by 
all. Failures, however, are ignored or outright covered up, pre-
venting valuable learning. 
 
◼
  Survival.  The most common measure of success is treading 
water and simply maintaining the status quo. Achieving this is 
“good enough.” Change is often seen as an active threat. 
 
◼
  Aimless direction.  Key performance indicators are undefi ned 
and tenure is determined by politics rather than merit. Success 
is a subjective measure doled out by management based on 
unclear criteria. 
 
◼
  Frantic desperation.  People constantly reinvent their job 
every time they face a challenge. Inputs and outputs are unde-
fi ned and when employee turnover happens, business processes 
are reinvented from scratch. 
 
◼
  Person-centricity.  Competencies are not recognized, acknowl-
edged, or even understood. Making something happen inevi-
tably involves contacting a specifi c individual, without which 
everything becomes impossible. 
 
◼
  Incapacitated and paralyzed.  Good ideas are ignored because 
of fundamental gaps in capability. Rather than being seen as an 
opportunity to improve, these gaps are used as a crutch to jus-
tify stagnation and the rejection of change. 
 
◼
  Problem-based debate.  Cross-functional and internal dis-
agreements are totally subjective in nature and focus on the 
root cause of current issues. Different parties will attribute cur-
rent challenges to different sources, and rather than look for 
solutions, they ’ll argue about causes with no clear path to reso-
lution. Usually ending at loggerheads, the different groups will 
take independent (and sometimes confl icting) actions to solve 
what they feel is “the real issue.” 
 
◼
  Feudal artisans.  Skills are hoarded by manual craftspeople 
who have developed their experience through years of practical 
application. The political enterprise guards their skills through 

---

54 
▸
  
B I G   D A T A ,   B I G   I N N O V A T I O N
the creation of fi efdoms and leverages their unique capabilities 
for internal political gain. 
 
◼
  Technology is “nice to have.”  Despite missing fundamen-
tal capabilities, technology is seen as a “nice-to-have” and is 
heavily neglected in favor of hiring and developing artisans. 
Spreadsheets multiply and information is a closely guarded 
power base for those who have accumulated it.