A piece of spaghetti or a military unit can only be led from the front end.
George S. Patton
Patton was speaking to his young lieutenants about how they should lead their platoons, but this maxim is equally true in business. If you want people to adopt a new process or system, you need to actively use the data to make decisions, even if it’s half-baked to start with.
It’s one of the first things I tell organizations implementing resource planning and portfolio management. Start using the data to make decisions. Pull the organization along. Then they’ll follow suit. The data will improve over time.
Another phrase I’ve heard to describe this is: “Use it or lose it.”
