Leadership Depends on Data, and Vice Versa

It may not always feel like it, but I think local government has
come a long way when it comes to technology. When I started
my public service career in 1994 at the City of Highland Park,
we did not own a single personal computer, presentations
were on transparencies and overhead projectors, information
sharing occurred through interoffice envelopes, and printed
Council packets were dropped off at each elected official’s
residence. We have come a long way, yet many of us still fall
short of unifying our data so we can be good stewards of our
communities.

Have you and your team bought into the notion that local
government is easy? It is not, particularly when it comes
to information systems. Most communities consist of 6-12
departments like Administration; Dispatch; Emergency
Management; Engineering; Finance; Fire; Technology; Parks
& Recreation; Police; Public Works; Community & Economic
Development. Each serving different purposes and requiring
specialized skills, processes, and information systems.
Bringing that quantity of divergent information systems
together can be challenging. Yet that is exactly what we
need to do to meet the expectations of the residents and
businesses we serve in a modern on-demand culture.

Contributing to this challenge is a software industry that lives
primarily at the transaction level within individual departments.
These systems, as standalone solutions, bring value to those
individual departments, but often at the expense of enterprise
integration. These systems often create application silos that
further segregate our most important asset (data). One might
think that large investments in technology would produce
integrated information, but there is only one party motivated
to integrate your solutions, and that is you.

In my experience there is no phrase that has gotten more
use and less attention than ‘data-silos’. Data silos are more
significant than ever because of the abundance of software
we buy in local government. To be clear, the problem is not
software, it is the lack of discipline and attention we put on
our data. Organizations that get the most out of their systems
have formalized data strategies and proactively pursue those
plans.

Extracting value from our data and systems begins with
leadership. As a leader, you get what you emphasize, and we
need to reinforce what we want from our data management
systems. Without that clarity, our teams will do the best they
can (like buy more software) and will not get where you want
to go. They are simply doing the best they can, with only a
vague idea of what you want.

One of the most important parts of this clarity-first approach
is having a leadership team that is completely cohesive and
aligned with the clarity you are creating. Any crack in that
armor will result in departments heading off in their own
direction away from your vision. In addition, what you are
going for, needs to be built-in to all your business systems. It
needs to be part of recruitment, performance management,
tactical and strategic structures, documentation, and
organizational portals. You cannot overcommunicate what
you want too much.

Some leaders might be reading this article thinking, “How
can I do this? I am not an expert in technology.” That is
an advantage. Keep reinforcing what you want high-level
(the outcome), and when the technocrats drag you into the
weeds, gently remind them that your job is to create clarity,
and their job is to figure out how to do it. Ask them what is
not clear about the outcome; make it clearer when you can.
Most importantly, be consistent in your reinforcements.

If you feel your organization could do more to unify your
enterprise data, it starts with leadership. Create clear goals,
unify your teams, overcommunicate, reinforce in every
organizational system and structure, and regularly check-in
on progress and alignment. Data depends on leadership,
and vice versa