Alex Leigh

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So far Alex Leigh has created 61 blog entries.

How Many Students do we have – Part 2 of 4

By Alex Leigh|2023-07-11T09:18:58+01:00July 11th, 2023|What I've done|

This is the second of four articles in the series “why it’s so difficult to agree how many of something we have.” (note: this is a Guest article by my colleague Rav Ubhi-Adams. First published on Linked In) In the first of our articles, @AlexLeigh set out a high-level approach for answering the common question we all get asked or ask – how many students do we have? Populations are a potential solution to ease some of the frustration on this. Both for those asking and attempting to answer what feels like a simple question! In this article, we’re going to [...]

Tell me again.. how many students do we have?

By Alex Leigh|2023-06-19T15:10:09+01:00June 19th, 2023|What I've done|

(This is the first of four articles to discuss why it is so difficult to agree how many of something we have, a proven approach to overcome this, a worked example and an idea of what to do next). A question often asked and rarely answered the same way twice! There are many reasons for this, and most of those can be seen on that quick sketch above which led to a long LINKEDIN discussion about the work we'd done at a recent workshop. Essentially there are two issues to address: 1) What question are you trying to answer. If we [...]

Crafting the business case for Data Governance

By Alex Leigh|2023-04-04T13:57:22+01:00April 4th, 2023|Members Area, What I've done|

This isa subject we often come back to, because it's a hard problem to solve. Not impossible, but requires authenticity and organisational narrative wrapped in rigorous approach to creating the right content to engage, enthuse and - ultimately - convince your audience. The term 'crafting' feeling appropriate here- this is not a cookie cutter generic document that promises 'data driven decision making', 'reduced costs' or 'improved risk management'. Rather it explains simply but coherently why managing data as an asset is integral and enabling to the success of the organisation, specifically in support of its stated goals and priorities.Wow, that's quite [...]

Does your Data Governance team need a conductor?

By Alex Leigh|2023-02-03T11:46:40+00:00February 3rd, 2023|What I've done|

“What skills does a Data Governance manager need?” is a question I’m often asked. In fact, I’ve made a stab at answering it here: https://lnkd.in/eSRuYMz4#data Re-reading that reminds me of a discussion I had with Debbie Carless BA(Hons) PGDipIM CMgr FCMI (who is DG manager at Solent and also a musician) as to if the role was analogous to that of a conductor of an orchestra. There’s something in that; creating a community of the willing coalescing around a single idea. Lots of subject matter experts all following the same score. All of us together far more than the sum [...]

You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means

By Alex Leigh|2023-01-03T15:30:33+00:00January 3rd, 2023|What I've done|

Not the snappiest title ever, but any reference to the Princess Bride has to be cut a certain amount of slack! As must I, based on the previous blog post being published some eighteen months ago. In my defence, the last couple of years have been crazy busy which has also generated a whole load of content I'm keen to share. Starting with a oldie but a goodie, chosen only because I finally fixed the Business Glossary template linked to in this article. If you've not read that, it's offers lots of good advice on the how and why of generating, maintaining [...]

Data Governance is a wet sock problem!

By Alex Leigh|2022-07-26T09:55:04+01:00July 21st, 2021|What I've done|

This might be a bit of a stretch. But stick with me. When my daughter was young, she was very impatient. No idea where she gets it from. Anyway, after a bath, she'd always get dressed without drying herself properly. This led to 'the parable of the wet sock'. Firstly, she had to find the sock. It would often be in the wrong drawer. And it would never be attached to a matched item. After time spent assembling a pair, dragging a once dry sock over a wet foot was a study in frustration. And a sure way to early sock destruction. Completing [...]

Data Myths and what to do about them

By Alex Leigh|2021-04-09T13:08:17+01:00April 9th, 2021|What I've done|

A couple of weeks ago Nicola Askham and I posed a question on LinkedIn: "What are the most common Data Myths you hear?'. 6000+ views and a hundred odd comments later suggests this is something worth investigating further. While it felt a bit like group therapy, there is a serious side to myths around data. Firstly they exist- that's a problem because they often confuse or obfuscate the narrative that data really is an organisational wide asset, and must be managed as such. Secondly, they endure- so even the most compelling or nuanced arguments are blocked by a unshiftable ideology around [...]

Data Strategy and Governance – your questions answered

By Alex Leigh|2021-01-07T16:09:33+00:00January 7th, 2021|What I've done|

In the last of our 2020 webinars, Nicola and I collected a list of the questions we are asked the most, and made an attempt to answer then all. The video below has those and some questions from attendees on the day. You'll need to click into the blog entry to see the video panel. Wordpress doesn't show it on the preview. Who knows why! And because it was very close to Christmas, you'll see both of us have appropriate themed jumpers :) https://youtu.be/1DB_57sVDCM This year, we'll be running free "Masterclass' sessions going deeper into specific data strategy and [...]

Putting the Data Strategy to work

By Alex Leigh|2020-10-19T10:12:04+01:00October 19th, 2020|What I've done|

So much work on Data Strategies is wasted when they fail to launch. There are many reasons for this - and we'll get back to some of those in a later post - but the one I see the most often is the lack of any framework to 'land' the strategy on. In this masterclass, Nicola and I set out a pragmatic model for implementing Data Governance in support of a strategy. We discuss what needs to go into a framework, why there is no single framework for every organisation and the importance of leading with culture. We finish with an [...]

Why do I need a data strategy?

By Alex Leigh|2020-09-18T14:41:18+01:00September 18th, 2020|What I've done|

Nicola Askham and I are running a series of webinars charting the path to a sustainable data culture. I really enjoy working with Nicola as we share the same passion for pragmatic and aligned data governance, while bringing different skills and experiences to that goal. In this second webinar, we discuss what a data strategy is and why you might need one. It's 30 minutes long including some excellent Q&A at the end. I hope to be launching a public Data Strategy course that builds on much of this content later this year. More details coming very soon. In the meantime, [...]

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