How to build a Data Tribe (and deliver business value)

So what is a Data Tribe Anyway?

In 2019, I established Thomson Reuters’ Data Tribe with a group of data enthusiasts to create a Centre of Excellence (COE) for data analytics projects with astounding business success.

I’m a firm believer of the leadership concept of Self-efficacy (Bandura (1982) defined self-efficacy as “a belief in one’s ability to effectively perform and to exercise influence over events”) which require Leaders to not only “explain” and “suggest” what a colleague should do but to allow them the space to experiment, learn and grow such that shared values are not only understood, but internalized through practice.

Building a Tribe of data enthusiasts not only requires technical skills but also a Growth Mindset. A Growth Mindset involves curiosity, challenging long-held assumptions and evaluating data of experiments to learn & iterate your solution to solve customer problems. It is important as a Leader to develop growth mindset with colleagues by offering data challenges that serve the dual purpose of building technical skills through practice (of data projects) but also developing an experimental mindset that values curiosity and embraces ambiguity as we operate in an increasingly VUCA business environment. (VUCA is an acronym that represents Volatile + Uncertain + Complex + Ambiguous which succinctly describes the world we live and operate in)

To successfully build a Data Tribe, Leaders also need to adopt a “Coaching Mindset” which involves prioritising a delicate balance between “learning orientation goals” versus “performance orientation goals”. Sometimes there are trade-offs and inefficiencies.

For example, your team is required to perform a task and as a Team Leader, you have to decide who in your team should complete that task. A performance orientation mindset will suggest you allocate the task to the person who is better skilled at it and can get it done the most efficiently. The Learning Orientation Mindset, however, will mean you allocate the task to the person, not necessarily the best at it, but the one that stands to learn the most and grow from the experience.

It's about building “bench strength” but it can be difficult as a Leader to juggle this trade-off.

Want to know more and establish a Data Tribe in your organisation?

Watch this short video clip on my Youtube Channel