Driving Change: What challenges do you face in your Data Mesh journey ?

I’ll be traveling to Amsterdam this week to speak to customers about driving change in an organization. We’ll be discussing how to design and implement a data mesh, and the challenges data leaders face from a people and process perspective. As we’ve been speaking to customers, we’ve compiled a list of questions and concerns. I’d love to hear which ones resonate most with you. 

• The organization doesn’t understand the paradigm.
• We’re not sure which stakeholders to get onboard.
• We don’t know how to introduce a Data Mesh or where to start.
• We’re not sure which domains to start with. 
• Maturity varies across domains.
• We’re not sure how to define their scope and responsibilities.
• Domains are reluctant to take ownership of data products. 
• Domains feel they are being given additional work.
• We don’t know how to create incentives to drive these changes.
• We worry about duplication of work or data across domains.
• We don’t have success criteria or KPIs to use to measure progress.
• We need to scale the mindset and build a culture that embraces data and Data Mesh.

Behavioral Changes Are Individual

Remember that everyone is different, and not everyone responds the same. Multiple methods can help drive changes across diverse audiences. To be most effective, you'll need to consider enablement, incentives and, (perhaps) enforcement.

• Enablement - How do I it? To start, teams need to have the right tools and training to ensure they can make the change. And, this is not just technical. Training needs to extend from the tools and technical training to product development methodologies, and including communication and collaboration.
• Incentives - Why should I do it? How do you create an environment conducive to behavioral change? On a social level, that means creating an awareness of the value of the new behavior, instilling satisfaction in helping drive the new behavior and helping others achieve their goals, and building a community that recognizes and appreciates the new behavior. On a material level, how can we reward teams with resources like headcount and budgets, and individuals with promotions and bonuses.
• Enforcement - What happens if I don't? Ideally, there is really no need for enforcement but we all know what can happen with those who are too reluctant to change. Let's focus on the enablement and incentives!

Organizational Change Brings Professional Development

Driving change within an organization, promoting the data culture, and educating others is an opportunity for professional development. According to a recent talent management study, 74% of employees say that a lack of professional development prevents them from reaching their goals. And a LinkedIn study reported that 94% of employees say they would stay longer at a company if they invested more in staff development. It’s not always a question of formal programs. A lot of professional development lies in opportunities to explain data and analytics concepts, present projects, and highlight value delivered to the organization. This can be a win-win for employees and employers. In an era of resignations and "quiet quitting," retention should be top of mind.

This is my first foray into the LinkedIn Newsletter format. I'd love to hear your thoughts.