All I Really Need To Know About Data Quality I Learned In Kindergarten
Jim Harris in Books, Data Quality tagged Best of 2009, Humor, Philosophy Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 10:06PM Robert Fulghum's excellent book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten dominated the New York Times Bestseller List for all of 1989 and much of 1990. The 15th Anniversary Edition, which was published in 2003, revised and expanded on the original inspirational essays.
A far less noteworthy achievement of the book is that it also inspired me to write about how:
All I Really Need To Know About Data Quality I Learned in Kindergarten
Show And Tell
I loved show and tell. An opportunity to deliver an interactive presentation that encouraged audience participation. No PowerPoint slides. No podium. No power suit. Just me wearing the dorky clothes my parents bought me, standing right in front of the class, waving my Millennium Falcon over my head and explaining that "traveling through hyper-space ain't like dustin' crops, boy" while my classmates (and my teacher) were laughing so hard many of them fell out of their seats. My show and tell made it clear that if you came over my house after school to play, then you knew exactly what to expect - a geek who loved Star Wars - perhaps a little too much.
When you present the business case for your data quality initiative to executive management and other corporate stakeholders, remember the lessons of show and tell. Poor data quality is not a theoretical problem - it is a real business problem that negatively impacts the quality of decision critical enterprise information. Your presentation should make it clear that if the data quality initiative doesn't get approved, then everyone will know exactly what to expect:
"Poor data quality is the path to the dark side.
Poor data quality leads to bad business decisions.
Bad business decisions leads to lost revenue.
Lost revenue leads to suffering."
The Five Second Rule
If you drop your snack on the floor, then as long as you pick it up within five seconds you can safely eat it. When you have poor quality data in your enterprise systems, you do have more than five seconds to do something about it. However, the longer poor quality data goes without remediation, the more likely it will negatively impact critical business decisions. Don't let your data become the "smelly kid" in class. No one likes to share their snacks with the smelly kid. And no one trusts information derived from "smelly data."
When You Make A Mistake, Say You're Sorry
Nobody's perfect. We all have bad days. We all occasionally say and do stupid things. When you make a mistake, own up to it and apologize for it. You don't want to have to wear the dunce cap or stand in the corner for a time-out. And don't be too hard on your friend that had to wear the dunce cap today. It was simply their turn to make a mistake. It will probably be your turn tomorrow. They had to say they were sorry. You also have to forgive them. Who else is going to share their cookies with you when your mom once again packs carrots as your snack?
Learn Something New Every Day
We didn't stop learning after we "graduated" from kindergarten, did we? We are all proud of our education, knowledge, understanding, and experience. It may be true that experience is the path that separates knowledge from wisdom. However, we must remain open to learning new things. Socrates taught us that "the only true wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing." I bet Socrates headlined the story time circuit in the kindergartens of Ancient Greece.
Hold Hands And Stick Together
I remember going on numerous field trips in kindergarten. We would visit museums, zoos and amusement parks. Wherever we went, our teacher would always have us form an interconnected group by holding the hand of the person in front of you and the person behind you. We were told to stick together and look out for one another. This important lesson is also applicable to data quality initiatives. Teamwork and collaboration are essential for success. Remember that you are all in this together.
What did you learn about data quality in kindergarten?
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Reader Comments (4)
Over on the SmartData Collective, Daniel Gent commented:
In kindergarten we played "Simon Says..."
I compare it as a way of following the requirements or business rules.
Simon says raise your hands.
Simon says touch your nose.
Touch your feet.
With that final statement you learned very quickly in kindergarten that you can be out of the game if you are not paying attention to what is being said.
Just like in data quality, to have good accurate data and to keep the business functioning properly you need to pay attention to what is being said, what the business rules are.
So when Simon says touch your nose, don't be touching your toes, and you'll stay in the game.
Over on the SmartData Collective, Daragh O Brien commented:
What I learned in kindergarten is that just because a bigger person says it is so or you have to do it that way doesn't mean it is or you do.
You can change things.
Every playground has the "cool guys gang." They're the ones who dictated what was cool or not on the playground (WWF, yes. Dungeons & Dragons, no). If you have a better idea... and can persuade people (not always the ringleader of the cool gang, but enough of the other lieutenants) then you can engineer change, and suddenly you're the boss of the cool guys gang.
So I learned to pick my fights and pick the people I put effort into influencing.
By the way...my industry report Defining and Implementing an Effective Data Quality Strategy is the ONLY information quality publication where you will see quotes from W. Edwards Deming side by side with quotes from Master Yoda.
From the LinkedIn Group for TDWI, Christine Yousufzai commented:
Recognize each students expertise.
When you were selected as team captain for dodgeball in gym class you always selected the best athletes who could kick a ball, run fast around the bases and dodge a big red ball. You wanted the best team, but in order to win you also needed to strategize how to compensate for the weaknesses of those picked last. You had to work as team.
Later, the tables shifted when you returned to the classroom and the teacher announces your class will be competing against the other class in building a bridge. Suddenly your looking for the experts in science, math and a steady hand with a glue stick.
In data quality, adapt to the task by recognizing and leveraging each person's expertise each step of the way, from understanding each data source to mining information.
Work as a team.
How about the game "Red Light Green Light?"
The Champion would say "Green Light" and all the participants could advance until the "champion" of the light would turn and say "Red Light" at that point if you were discovered still advancing you were sent back to the beginning.
You could still advance on a "Red Light" if you weren't discovered advancing during the red light or the Champion turned around too late after saying "Red Light" or had secret alliances.
So as this applies to Data Quality, you need your Champions, you need the right processes, people, measurements and tools to discover survey the landscape and be wary of inappropriate alliances. In the case of data quality it's not about sending everyone back to the beginning but advancing appropriately for the sake of your business.