S4 | Ep 8 | Building for Strategic Transformation Amidst the Hype Cycles with James Morgan, Chief Data Officer at The Crown Estate

In Episode 8, of Season 4, of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by James Morgan, Chief Data Officer at The Crown Estate, where they discuss all of the facets involved in building a Data & Analytics capability for strategic transformation while managing the hype cycles, which includes;The importance of having the right information strategy Why D&A needs to be involved in strategic planning Why you have to identify which stakeholders deliver value for the organisation How too many data teams are focusing on solutions instead of objectives Choosing objectives that will deliver the best ROI  Why diverse teams are critical for success with D&A Balancing the immediate needs and the strategic visionDefining what your core capability needs to be Ensuring you enable the business so they don’t do it themselves Why all hype cycles only exist to help deliver an outcome  Why choosing the right tools can be critical Why some hype cycles have been hugely advantageous The importance of identifying where the nuggets of real change lie within any hype cycle Why the fundamentals of good data practice are still applicable today Why prototyping is beneficial but it can’t be your main approach Why AI isn’t the answer to everything Why not all hype cycles are created equally How people confuse operating model and team structure Trying to hire unicorns and writing 35 different job descriptions to build a team Why your data team should represent the population Why you have to truly believe in building a diverse team Why being obliged to fill a diversity quota or target is the wrong approach Why you’ll only ever gain credibility by delivering something that people want and use Needing to get your organisation to the place of believing that data is intrinsic to its success Attributing the value of your work before you deliver anything