Howdy! I’m Mark Horseman, and welcome to The Cool Youngsters Nook. That is my month-to-month check-in to share with you the folks and concepts I encounter as an information evangelist with DATAVERSITY. This month we’re speaking knowledge literacy and alter administration. What’s knowledge literacy? Why is it vital? What are the limitations? How do you navigate the waters of change administration to make it occur? And, finally, we’ll see what the Cool Youngsters are saying. 

Knowledge literacy may be outlined as “the power to learn, work with, analyze, and argue with knowledge.” That’s all properly and tremendous, however what can we imply by that, actually? The artwork of being data-literate is rather like being literate in any spoken language. Are you able to learn, work, analyze, and argue in your mom tongue? In the event you’ve realized a second language, are you able to learn, work, analyze, and argue in that language? Knowledge may be very a lot the identical. 

Knowledge literacy is vital throughout your entire group, out of your front-line employees all the way in which as much as the C-suite. It defines for people why their interplay with knowledge is vital and helps articulate how their data and skill finally impacts their decision-making. An illiterate knowledge entry clerk could not notice the affect of skipping steps when placing new buyer knowledge in an enterprise system. An illiterate govt could take a look at a dashboard or KPI and make a poor enterprise resolution. 

The barrier to literacy has been laid naked within the earlier paragraph. After we discuss knowledge literacy, and the necessity to practice on knowledge literacy, the implication put earlier than our target market is that we’re calling them illiterate, which is insulting. It is a main change administration problem inside any form of knowledge literacy initiative. What turns into one of the simplest ways to implement knowledge literacy coaching? In my expertise, it at all times comes right down to communication. How can we, as knowledge professionals, talk with knowledge and about knowledge with common folks (as described by Dr. Thomas C. Redman in “Individuals and Knowledge: Uniting to Rework Your Enterprise”)? That’s, how can we talk with non-data professionals? 

Finally, enhancing knowledge literacy is an train in change administration. Of us want knowledge literacy expertise to be efficient within the function they play with their group’s knowledge. Change administration is the car to get folks enthusiastic about knowledge literacy such that they will learn, work with, analyze, and argue successfully with knowledge. 

What are the Cool Youngsters saying about change administration? This month, our featured Cool Child is Aakriti Agrawal, Supervisor of Knowledge Governance at American Specific. Aakriti gifted the neighborhood with the idea of her A.N.C.H.O.R. framework throughout her workshop on the Knowledge Governance & Info High quality Convention (DGIQ) West in June 2023. The A.N.C.H.O.R. breaks down a profitable change administration initiative into six components: Intention, Want, Neighborhood, Hooray, Obstacles, and Resilience.   

In brief, Aakriti explains: 

• Intention: To drive efficient change, you need to know what objective you’re working towards. What are your knowledge issues? The place may you be capable of help? 
• Want: We have to successfully talk why our objectives are vital to others, in a method that they are going to pay attention. 
• Neighborhood: Convey folks in so that you just’re getting help together with your objective. 
• Hooray: Rejoice wins – this retains your group motivated! 
• Obstacles: Uncover and take away limitations to your objective, together with organizational biases. 
• Resilience: Anchor and maintain this system by behavior forming. 

You’ll be able to be taught extra about Aakriti’s great work right here: 

Keep in mind that you would be able to meet Cool Youngsters like Aakriti at DATAVERSITY occasions: 

Need to turn out to be one of many Cool Youngsters? All you could do is share your concepts with the neighborhood! To be lively in the neighborhood, attend DATAVERSITY webinars, take part in occasions, and community with like-minded colleagues. 

Subsequent month, I’ll share my ideas on the interaction between Knowledge Governance and AI. Keep tuned!