Disrupting Data Governance: A Call to Action

by Laura B. Madsen

Data governance is broken. It's time we fix it.

Why is data governance so ineffective? The truth is data governance programs aren't designed for the way we run our data teams, they aren't even designed for a modern organization at all. They were designed when reports still came through inter-office mail.

The flow of data into, within, and out of today's organizations is a tsunami breaking through rigid data governance methods. Yet our programs still rely on that command and control approach. Have you ever tried to control a tsunami? Every organization that uses data knows that they need a data governance program. Data literacy efforts and legislation like GDPR have become the bellwethers for our governance functions. But we still sit in data governance meetings without enough people and too many questions to move things forward. There's no agility to the program because we imply a degree of frailty to the data that doesn't exist. We continue to insist on archaic methods that bring no value to our organizations. Achieving deep insights from data can't happen without good governance practices.

All indicators point to the need to create a resilient and responsive data governance function. Where we go from here, and how we achieve success in data governance requires a radically different way. The hard it's time to challenge everything we know about data governance.

Laura Madsen shows you how to redefine governance for the modern age. With a casual, witty style Madsen taps on her decades of experience, shares interviews with other best-in-field experts and grounds her perspective in research. Witness where it all fell apart, challenge long-held beliefs, and commit to a fundamental shift-that governance is not about stopping or preventing usage but about supporting the usage of data. Be able to bring back trust and value to our data governance functions, and learn

Genres: Nonfiction

180 pages, Paperback

Published December 6, 2019

About the author

Laura Madsen isn't shy about her dislike for formal bios, to her they tend to come across as stuffy and disingenuous - two things Laura is absolutely not. That said, she'd be selling herself short if you knew nothing of her wealth of experience from 20+ years in healthcare data and analytics, authoring books on data governance and healthcare analytics, impassioned speeches about innovation, data governance, and the value of data in healthcare. But what’s really important to know is that Laura spends her days helping you build programs that align with the aspirational vision of today’s modern companies with the less-than-glamorous work of data management. She's a life-long learner and champion for intentional inclusion, and gender equity matters through organizations like Sistech and She Talks Data.

Laura co-founded the Minneapolis-based consulting firm Via Gurus to converge two of her biggest passions: helping companies define and execute successful data strategies and radically challenging the status quo. Laura lives in Minnesota with her husband, son, and fur-baby.

Reviews

[Anna Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gem of a book. If you want to find a way to data driven data governance, read this book. It's been on my list a long time and I wish I had read it when it first came out.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, describing a method to transition Data Governance within an organization towards the more Agile methodology of Data Governance Operations. The author, data strategist and healthcare analyst Laura Madsen, explains how to transform the structure and methods of data governance. Madsen’s writing is clear and concise, efficiently laying out the end state and rationale behind the transformation and then detailing the changes to the people, processes, and technology necessary to achieve those goals. This Data Governance Ops (DGOps) methodology follows closely the Agile principles, resulting in the decentralized collection of data across a broad spectrum of uses and allowing for a flexible structure of dynamic analysis. Madsen also provides healthy write-ups on the change management principles and leadership characteristics necessary for this methodology to overcome the established structures of centralized data. A great book for understanding the methods and resources, along with barriers and pitfalls, of DGOps. Recommended for anyone looking for implementing major changes in their organization’s approach to Data Governance.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The approach it raises is interesting, I find it very useful

[Jennifer Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read on data governance and shifting your focus from data protection to data usage. Has a good balance between the WHY and HOW to get this done.