Out with the Long-Term Strategic Plan
… unless it’s continually balanced with short-term immediate value.
Balance. Much of life is about balance. Not only in BI, but on myriad fronts, you’re going to have a hard time being successful until you learn the art of balancing long-term and short-term gain. In both our business and personal lives, it’s a basic human tendency to forgo delayed gratification for immediate, hear and now returns. Forget saving, let’s buy on credit. And forget the long-term vision, we’ve gotta deliver on this quarter’s numbers.
I view these philosophies as imbalanced to the near-term and subsequently dangerous. But in the execution of Business Intelligence in most organizations (or the failing attempt thereof), I notice just the opposite trend … Plans and roadmaps that are long on strategy but very short on immediate return.
Let’s face it, you’re never going to get the opportunity to deliver on your long-term, three-year strategic vision unless you justify / demonstrate some serious returns long before that. The fact is that nobody is going to fund an initiative for that long (if at all) that is packed with theory and promise, but doesn’t return on the investment.
If BI is to be successful, we have to knock out quick wins along the way to continue to justify the existence and perpetuation (read: funding) of the initiative. So, here’s my tip of the day:
For every year in your strategic BI roadmap, define and execute three short-term wins with the following characteristics:
- Choose tasks that can be implemented in 30 days or less with no complex dependencies
- Clear, return on the investment in these tasks can be measured / demonstrated (ideally quantitatively) 30 days after that
- Target tasks at the pain of key players in your organization who are skeptical about BI’s capacity to help
In so doing, you’ll take a huge step forward in justifying your initiative and proving its value in the short-run as a vital stepping stone toward your no-doubt awe-inspiring vision for BI.
