The 79% Problem: Why the People Who Need Data Still Cannot Get It

My boss and I solved for this problem at a large organization back in 2012 when I was the assistant manager of the organization's knowledge management team.

The solution was as simple as forced transparency. It was a social/culture problem, not a technology problem. It was not about the tools. Almost any tool can be made to solve for this problem. It was about the people.

To solve for this:

1. You need to have explicit support from the senior executives, almost like a get out of jail free card that allows you to skip entire segments of chain of command. Without this you are dead on arrival.

2. You need goals and a plan.

3. You have to coach the impacted teams. Some teams will get this immediately require only periodic validation, a few minutes a month. Some teams will require constant training and hand holding.

If you think you can solve for this with a software tool then just give up now, because you are only spinning your wheels. More than 80% of the total effort requires talking to people.

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