Data doesn't belong in a silo — it belongs in every decision

Whenever someone shows me their organisation's strategic plan, there's something I always find myself scanning for. It's not that I'm hunting for flaws. It's that after reading so many of these documents over the years, the same pattern keeps turning up. Somewhere on the page sits a priority worded something like 'Improve our use of data', 'Build data capability' or 'Become more data-informed'

And every single time, the same question crosses my mind: why does data get treated as a finish line? Why does it earn its own dedicated box on the page?

Don't get me wrong, I'm genuinely in favour of a deliberate plan to lift how people use data and evidence in their work. But giving it a standalone spot in a strategic plan misses something important, in my view. Data and evidence aren't meant to be a destination sitting off to the side. They're meant to run through everything else an organisation does. The moment you carve data out as its own priority, it risks looking like just one more thing to manage: another project, another skill to develop, another meeting on the calendar, another initiative competing for attention, often looking completely unrelated to the other priorities around it.

None of that is inherently a bad thing. Plenty of it genuinely matters. But it only has real value if it actually sharpens the everyday decisions people make and if it becomes woven into how the organisation naturally operates, not bolted on besides it.

The point was never the data itself.

I've never seen data as the outcome. The real goal is always better decisions and stronger next steps. Data isn't the finish line, and it's not meant to stand alone. It's simply a powerful tool for getting somewhere that actually matters.

Over recent years, I've noticed myself talking less about "data" on its own and more about how information, decisions and impact connect to each other. That's not because data matters less. It's because it's become obvious that collecting more information doesn't automatically lead to better outcomes. Better outcomes come from using a mix of data sources to make sound decisions, and then continuing to check in afterwards to see whether those decisions actually delivered what was hoped for.

That's a meaningfully different lens to view data through. It's also what's pulled my attention towards the gap between data used before a decision and data used after one.

Looking before a decision is only half the job.

Most of us are pretty confident with the "before" side gathering information, spotting trends, and using evidence to back a decision before we make it.

But a decision isn't the end. Once it's locked in new questions show up: are we following through? Is it working? What side effects are appearing? Is it creating the impact we wanted? Answering that needs good "after" data too.

This is where things usually fall down. We put effort into justifying a decision up front, then rarely check on it with the same rigour afterwards, measuring activity instead of impact, outputs instead of outcomes and completion instead of whether it actually worked. Data often gets used to reach a decision, but not to stay with it. That's exactly why it bothers me when data sits boxed off as its own line in a strategy document.

Data should run through every priority, not sit besides them

If a strategic plan had a standalone priority called Improve communication. It would feel a bit off. Communication isn't something you tick off before the real work starts. It's how the real work happens. The same goes for collaboration, curiosity, feedback and learning. None of these are destinations. They're capabilities that shape every other priority.

Data deserves the same treatment. Instead of sitting besides your other priorities, it should run through all of them pointing you towards where attention is needed, helping you choose the smartest option, showing whether change is happening as intended, and telling you whether real impact is showing up.

Look closely, and what actually sits at the centre isn't data. It's decisions. What data does simply shift along the way? Beforehand, it sharpens judgement; afterwards, it sharpens learning.

What It looks like when an organisation truly gets this

Here's the interesting part one of the clearest signs an organisation has genuinely built a strong show culture is that people stop saying "we need to use data" at all. Instead, the conversation shifts towards asking sharper questions, thinking carefully about what information actually matters for a decision, having a real approach to how choices get made, and leaders engaging with all of this as part of leading, not as some technical add-on.

That's the mindset you see once people understand that testimony was never meant to be a destination. It's the companion that sits alongside every meaningful decision an organisation makes from strong data visualisation right through to how a decision actually gets reviewed once it's live.

A different question worth asking

So instead of asking, 'How do we get better at using data?' maybe the sharper question is 'How do we make sure evidence sits inside every decision before it's made and long after it's made?'

Because for me, that's where strategy actually comes to life and it's a true sign of a genuinely data-informed culture. It's not the destination, it's the journey (or the cliiiiiiiiimb — cue Miley Cyrus)