Submitted for Your Approval
Jeremiah is a project manager in the engineering group for a medical device company, and his job is manage resources through a pool of projects related to reconfiguration of a device defect that resulted in a consent order. In one of the projects, assembling, packaging, labeled, and shipping a repair kit for said device, Stella in Marketing discovered that the documentation for the shipped kit stated a lower testing threshold did not match those given directly to the customer.
Let the fisticuffs commence!
Jerry's group uses the spec tied to their BOM key for the version of the kit assembled. A spec validated by documented testing. As far as Jerry can tell - back channeling with Syd, one of the testing leads of the group that verifies marketing specs for product versions - there's been no test validating the kit against the higher spec.
Stella cares not. She demands that Jerry fix the problem on his side, reminding him that both the CMO & CEO are looking for a resolution yesterday.
What is Jerry to do? Does he simply assume that Stella has the juice to dictate his focus? How does he get the curation of data she's demanding? Does it even exist? Is it even Jerry's job?!??!
Welcome to the ungoverned zone, where business rules morph like a Dali painting, and timelines are an illusion…
Jerry, Stella, and Syd are trapped in a data drama triangle; a jungle of dysfunction where data trust is choked and the best interests of the business and their customers are obscured by impulses to hide unpleasant realities from the leaders while promising them an outcome that's not yet clear.
You have everything you need to stage a data production. Whether it will be a hit with a long & profitable run depends on the following elements being decided as quickly as possible:
- Scope - will it be a vignette or a 3-act production? What is the minimum acceptable in-between?
- Target Resolution - in this case, the legal requirement under a consent order would be to publicize only to the spec that you can prove you tested.
- Expected Impact - rate the targeted capability's: Value across domains (i.e. - reusable) Enhance an existing product (i.e. - new dashboard element) Create a new bridge between concepts or domains? Cost & penalty avoidance value Reputational impact Trust Increase Potential
- Foundational capabilities required Gap analysis against installed capabilities Team personas required
- Budget
- Release schedule
- Executive Sponsor
The value in this approach is to inculcate a team mindset that values and thrives on intense focus, celebrates competence, and energizes teams with purpose, enthusiasm and clarity. Plus, it can be as big or small, simple or complex, rudimentary or polished as the level of investment and team performance continuously increases.
If this appeals to you, let me be your data production director. I don't have a website or a marketing budget. Yet. I only have 30 years of experience watching business do data wrong. DM me and let's start a conversation.