Much has been said about data culture in organizations, particularly where org-wide initiatives are involved. However, culture remains one of the biggest obstacles to companies realizing their full data potential. Too often the idea of culture is approached as a single entity—that is, “the organization has a ___ culture.” This reductive approach leaves too many in the organization under-served and under-engaged.

Four data culture archetypes

My original research in analytics maturity and data cultures has identified four data culture archetypes. We call them APTitudes: Collaborative, Creative, Competitive, and Controlling. Much like a personality test, all four APTitudes are present in every team and organization. It’s just a matter of which is dominant. Each APTitude has its own strength and contribution to the good of the organization in how it prioritizes, utilizes, and leverages data.

Most companies, in my experience, score highest in the Collaborative APTitude. Individual teams can have strong elements of it as well but typically will present with one of the other APTitudes depending on their function (e.g., HR can be more Controlling, Sales can be more Competitive). The Collaborative APTitude uses data to increase participation in the organization and foster communication, buy-in, and belonging. Ownership and loyalty are strong values.

Those who are strongest in the Collaborative APTitude are most likely to be your champions of data governance. They value everyone being part of the process. They know who will be the best to drive the team-level initiatives forward and will either be your key data stewards or know who should be. Their work empowers others, which is one key goal of any data governance initiative.

The key takeaway here is that every data governance initiative should start with a proper assessment of your employees and team APTitudes. Data governance is about people and processes. Knowing the internal cultural landscape sets you up for an effective and inclusive data governance effort.