Disrupting Data Governance: A Call to Action

I absolutely love this book. I have worked in multiple industries and have experienced several data governance approaches as a frustrated data user, a functional owner, a business leader, and a strategic IT leader. I wish I had this book earlier. It would have given me a guide to drive / influence the organization to create business value from data in a more effective and/or efficient manner. I now have more confidence to ask the appropriate questions and engage with the multiple stakeholders to help set up a Data Governance Strategy and plan to deliver the most value with data asset company-wide.

I found this book useful in providing a realistic way to approach data governance. It recognizes the real world grayness of data, people, and processes. I love the focus on being useful. Reminds me of the quote from George Box, “All models are wrong, some are useful.”

The book was very straightforward and focused on key concepts to consider when looking at data governance. Not as technical in nature but gives a good overview and plenty of resources to develop a deeper technical knowledge.

A must-read book for anyone responsible for data or analytics in their organization, and the leaders they report to. For everyone else, you might pass this book over thinking that it's too technical or that it's not relevant to you because data governance isn't you job - but seriously don't pass on by without reading! The author uses normal human language and relatable examples to convey why traditional data governance doesn't work today and what we can do differently, and that EVERYONE in an organization can contribute to improve their data usability. One of the best "tech" books I've read in a while!