A CEO should be able to answer 4 questions:
- What has happened?
- What is happening?
- What will happen?
- What might happen?
Because if you can’t answer those questions, you are investing, hiring, and building based only on your instincts.
As Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said, “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.”
For all of our talk about strategy and execution, we have to start with a proper foundation.
So when I talk to new clients, one of the first things I ask is, “How clean is your data?”
Often, we have to remap accounts so that your financial statements are helpful. We validate data in CRM systems. Double-check coding in HR systems. Verify where we are getting bookings data. Billing data. And customer data.
It’s never too late and doesn’t have to happen overnight. But ensure that someone on your team owns the data integrity.