There is an ancient script that says: “The truth shall set you free.” That’s what we’re after here: the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And here is an amazing truth— your data is the only completely unbiased, absolute truth about your business.

Our last editions discussed the first steps for transforming your company into a data-driven business by loading all your data into your one-version-of-the-TRUTH cloud-based warehouse (OTTER). Now, we’re ready for the next big leap: discovering your data. Loading your raw data into your data warehouse was the hardest step, so don’t worry, it is all downhill from here. Now, it’s time to transform all that raw garbage data into your company’s most valuable asset.

The first time you see the data you’ve loaded into your OTTER, you’ll be shocked. Your data is filled with garbage, incomplete, and pretty much worthless. In order to transform this data into something useful, we need to see all the ugly problems and face the truth.

You can’t solve any problem until you can clearly see the problem. This is what the Discover Your Data process is all about: seeing and facing the truth so we can solve the problem. Once we can clearly see the problem, we know what we need to do to transform our data into something priceless.

The Power of Discovery

The discovery process will open your eyes to problems and previously hidden opportunities and shift your perspective as you begin to realize the transformational power of your data. At The Data Group, we’ve always emphasized that data is transformational, but only when used correctly. The journey to making your data transformational starts with discovery. It’s about seeing the data, cleaning the data, enriching the data, and transforming it into your company’s most valuable asset. Let’s take a look at what the discovery process looks like.

How to Discover Your Data

Data discovery is not about relying on complex tools or sophisticated algorithms. It’s about finally seeing your data. To see your data, you’ll need a data visibility tool. This tool will expose all your data and allow you to filter, pivot, and view the data effectively. There are many great tools out there, depending on the size of your dataset and your budget. For tiny businesses, Google Sheets might be all you need. For larger enterprises, we recommend Sigma Computing. Their online data discovery tool is a game changer, and it is currently the best data discovery/business intelligence/data analytics tool on the market.

Whatever tool you use, get the data where you can see it and filter it so you can find all the problems in your data. Once we can see the data, we can also clearly see all the problems. Let’s break down the two main processes of data discovery.

Clean and Fix It

Start with the basics: Eliminate duplicates, correct errors, standardize formats, and populate null values. While this may seem tedious, it’s a critical step in ensuring the foundation of your data is reliable and trustworthy. The great thing is that much of this can be incredibly fast with some simple SQL statements.

As you find all these problems, you’ll have numerous decisions to make regarding how to fix the problems. Fixing your data is quite a daunting task and will take perseverance, but it is worth the effort because this is how your data is transformed from worthless to priceless.

1. Fix at the Source: Fixing the data at the source system is always the most challenging. This often requires going back to the team and doing additional training, changing standard operating procedures—whatever it takes to get the data in the source system fixed and keep it fixed moving forward. Changing behaviors and processes is always challenging but often required if your data is of any value.
2. Fix in the Warehouse: Fixing your data in your warehouse by applying simple business rules to modify the data to make it correct is a much easier solution. Sometimes, the data fix just has to be done at the source system, but when you can fix the data in the warehouse, this is the easiest and most efficient path.

After fixing your data, it is time to enrich it. Enriching the data means making the data as valuable as possible by adding missing pieces to the puzzle. As you clean the data, you’ll see amazing opportunities to make it more valuable. You’ll need to go back and fill in some of these missing pieces with your team through the source systems. A lot of these missing pieces can just be fixed in the data warehouse through some simple business rules and some data update statements. Additional data can be purchased and downloaded to add incredible value to your existing data. After analyzing the core data, enrich it by integrating additional data sources. These could include market trends, customer feedback, weather data, traffic data, and competitor insights - endless possibilities. The richer your data, the more powerful it can be.

Discovery as a Leadership Strategy

Discovery is not just about data—it’s about leadership. It’s about transforming leaders from reactive decision-makers into proactive ones. By focusing on data discovery, leaders can understand what's happening today and anticipate what’s coming tomorrow. This approach enables them to identify trends before they escalate and seize opportunities before they disappear. Leaders who prioritize discovery don’t simply respond to events—they shape them.

Data discovery also requires a mindset shift. It’s about creating a culture where decisions are informed by data and truth rather than a gut feeling. This kind of leadership ensures clarity in decision-making, guiding teams with confidence and precision. This kind of leadership is data-driven leadership.

But remember, discovery is not a one-time activity. It’s an ongoing process. As leaders continue to delve deeper into their data, they uncover new opportunities and insights that can drive long-term business success. Data discovery is a journey; the deeper you go, the more value you can extract.

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