The starting culture will largely depend on the type of organization. Companies that rely on intuitive decision-making will largely be indifferent to analytics. They are used to make decisions based on gut instinct, with the highest paid employee having the largest influence. This can also lead to opposition to a culture based on analytics. Employees who were used to being valued for their intuition-based decisions may feel threatened by the shift to evidence-based decision-making. It is necessary to remove worries by guaranteeing they will not be replaced by the transition. An excited or open attitude by the entire workforce increases the chances of success of the program.
Warm up and excite employees for an analytical culture.
Remove worries about the shift to evidence-based decision-making.
The Culture inside the organization is still lukewarm to the use of analytics. They may know of some activities that are being started, but it is still isolated from the rest of the organization. The successes may inspire some early adopters to also try more experiments to confirm their beliefs. Some struggle may occur between believers in a data-driven way of working, and those who `have always worked this way', and continue to do so. Clear direction from leadership and management is needed to resolve this.
Use early success as inspiration to the rest of the organization.
Set a clear direction from the top down to move away from the old way of working.
Culture is probably one of the hardest things to change in any organization. Changing culture is a grind, and there is no magic potion. A culture that embraces analytics is necessary to sustain analytical activities. Leadership provides the runway for take-off, but Culture keeps it flying. At this stage a culture of continuous improvement, or \textit{kaizen}, should be stimulated. A culture where everyone is engaged to improve the organization goes hand in hand with our philosophy for an analytical organization. Analytics is born out of the need to break the status quo, and to look for opportunities to improve. Analytics can provide the tools to the organization to analyze the current situation, and improve upon that. Analytics can support a culture of continuous improvement, and that culture can in turn sustain an analytical culture.
Stimulate a culture of continuous improvement through data.
Encourage experimentation to test new optimizations.
An analytical culture is slowly becoming a reality. Analytics has found its way to many daily processes. Data and analytics are seen as powerful tools that can be used to accomplish the tasks you are facing. Metrics are used to continuously improve and track progression over time. The sentiment in the organization has shifted from skepticism to optimism. It is important to build on this sentiment to truly become innovative in the future.
Hire and retain employees with a data-driven mindset
Build on optimistic sentiment to become a truly data-driven organization
Culture is the driving force behind data-driven organizations and a sustainable competitive advantage, because it cannot be easily replicated by competitors. Encourage a culture that fosters innovation and a culture of ownership, where employees feel responsibility for the welfare of the organization, without having to be assigned explicit accountability. While a data-driven culture encompasses a lot of factors, the foundation will always be building arguments based on evidence, rather than intuition, and critically looking at every process and activity.
Encourage innovation and a culture of ownership
Maintain a data-driven culture, where evidence triumphs intuition