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MARKETING RESOURCES
Data Are People, Too
By Aaron Fuller
Data: They’re just the ones and zeros. They’re just the backend of the business – what we barely
understand but depend on for our applications and reports to work. Data are those things we’d rather not think about too much because they’re abstract and confusing, and we’d rather not contemplate the inconsistencies in our practices our data might reveal.
But our data aren’t just ones and zeros, they’re people, too. They represent people and their activities. Their quality has real impact on real people, and the way we treat our data is an expression of how we treat people. It’s time to bring the topic of data management from out of the basements of our businesses, organizations and governments up to the executive floor, the boardroom table and the floor of legislature.
In many ways, the process of bringing data management into the consciousness of the general public has already made progress. The intersection of data security with national and financial security has led “non-data people” to think much more about the topic. Companies and governments have begun to unlock the predictive and prescriptive potential of data analytics in compelling ways, which demonstrates to leaders why data is valuable.
Unfortunately, we haven’t made much progress in demystifying data for most people. “Big data” sounds mysterious and magical in so much advertising and journalism. Our culture is still in a state of transition. Even though we know the importance of data, the number of people who really understand it is still very small. Most people are still confused by the very idea of a database, let alone a worldwide, interconnected web of databases that contains the records of just about everything that happens.
But it doesn’t have to be thought of as abstract collections of ones and zeros. Think of that data as people. They are records of who people are – including their personal and professional information and their activities. And despite the fact that almost every organization in some way expresses that treating people well is part of its core values, too many of them don’t treat their data well.
Not treating data well results in negative impacts on real people. When that cable company whose advertising touts how much it loves its customers can’t keep proper track of a customer’s invoices and payments, they are mistreating a real person through data management incompetence. When the American government couldn’t properly process insurance applications upon
the initial launch of the health insurance marketplace website because of backend data integration problems, it was mis- treating the citizens who were dependent on that website. And in any negative data- related situations like these, the answer to how to treat the people better is to treat the data better.
I’m not suggesting this means every person in the world needs to be able to design databases or write SQL queries. But we do all need to realize that we’re all data stewards and we’re all data consumers. As data stewards, it’s your job to care for data as you would care for any other critical asset. As consumers, it’s your job to ensure you’re using good data. In both cases, data drives good decision-making.
In our jobs and in our personal lives, we are responsible for information about people – both our own and others. By caring about good data, we’re caring about people – spread the love. — SBAM
Aaron Fuller is the principal consultant and owner at Superior Data Strategies. You can reach him at aaron@ superiordatastrategies.com.
22 January/February 2017