How do you run your business? Gut feel? Customer stories? Industry fads? All good, but not enough in today's world. Having a data centric foundation is more than table stakes if you want to be a great executive.

Most businesses have a few key metrics that help track the outlook. They will be separate for revenue and expenses. Good executives have these top of mind as they make key decisions. Great executives take this a step further and find an "inside" data metric that when achieved, sets all the other wheels in motion for success.

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A great by product of making data centric decisions is that is helps eliminate office politics. Often the data will speak for itself, especially when tracked over time. Just by shedding light on the issue, the team will often come to the right action plan. I have found that for each key initiative I am driving with my team, it has to have a data centric element. In a way if you can't come up with this it isn't a significant issue.

A final note, please don't swamp your team with data requests. Most teams can't support more than three big initiatives at a time. You will have better luck starting three initiatives every quarter vs. starting 12 at once. At the end of the year you will be able to look back and smile with the progress you have made.

Find your inside pin, pull the data around it and drive it completion.