We recently had the pleasure of chatting with Sowen’s Founder & CEO, Ori Carmel, and Chief Strategy Officer, Sophie Blondeau, about their specialty: using data to achieve impact in your organization. Ori and Sophie shared actionable and practical insights learned through their extensive experiences working with nonprofit, social impact, education, governmental, and philanthropic organizations.
Watch the webinar recording here.
Sowen has created a range of resources to help organizations kick off their data-to-impact journey that were mentioned during the conversation. Find the infographic shown during the webinar here and take the assessment here.
5 Key Takeaways
1. Make Time to Think: It’s easy to get lost in day-to-day activities and miss the big picture. When there are so many things to do, taking the time to stop and think may feel indulgent or unproductive, but it’s necessary to make time to think about what you’re doing. Make sure the tasks you assign are aligned with your long-term vision and mission because missing to do so may cause disorientation and frustration among your team.
Pro Tip: Visualizing all the work your team is doing can help you determine whether or not it’s aligned with your strategy. Using tools such as Work Breakdown Structures are simple and free ways of keeping yourself accountable.
2. Change Takes Time: Organizational change takes patience and persistence. Improvements are rarely linear and are often hard to notice when you’re wrapped up in the process. Don’t be discouraged when things don’t go according to plan. The best ways to succeed are to start small, to have clear goals, and to be consistent.
Pro Tip: Using a framework to track and measure goals can help you stay on track and celebrate wins as they come along. A personal favorite methodology is the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework.
3. Culture Comes First: Peter Drucker once famously said: “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” With this in mind, when you begin planning your data strategy, you need to ensure that it is in line with a data-driven organizational culture. Culture is the aggregate of the norms, values, and rules that your organization exhibits. If you want to build a data-driven culture, begin by setting standards and rules that set the parameters for how, when, and why you manage, track, and use data.
Pro Tip: Starting off with a thorough discovery process can help you take a snapshot of where your culture is today. A meeting where everyone silently writes down then shares what they think the culture of your organization should be is a great way to see whether or not your team is aligned.
4. Use the Right Metrics to Tell the Right Stories: Metrics are essential for measuring progress and making informed decisions, but not all metrics are created equal. Choosing the right metrics helps you tell the story of your organization's journey that speaks directly to your stakeholders. Focus on metrics that align with your strategic goals and provide a clear picture of the impact you want to achieve.
Pro Tip: Develop a dashboard that tracks your key performance indicators (KPIs). Regularly review and adjust these metrics to ensure they remain relevant and useful. Free tools like Looker (formerly Google Data Studio) can help you create dynamic, visual representations of your data.
5. It’s Worth the Effort: Implementing a technology strategy and fostering a data-driven culture can be challenging, but the benefits far outweigh the effort. A well-executed strategy can lead to improved efficiency, better decision-making, and increased impact in the long term. Recognize that the journey may be difficult, but the outcomes will make your organization stronger and more effective.
Pro Tip: Celebrate milestones and acknowledge the hard work of your team. Keeping morale high and recognizing achievements can motivate everyone to stay committed to the process. Sharing success stories and tangible results can help reinforce the value of the effort.
Bonus: Book Recommendation
During our conversation, Ori Carmel recommends the book Work Rules!, by Laszlo Bock, for organizations looking for more ways to foster a data driven culture. The former head of People Operations at Google shares his experience creating a culture that fostered creativity, trusted data, and empowered its people.
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