A roadmap for business leaders to unlock the full potential of data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence
More than 90 percent of businesses surveyed say they want to capitalize on data—but two-thirds admit to feeling stuck. What these leaders do not realize is that to succeed at becoming a data-driven business requires developing a nuanced understanding of why data holds such transformative power, what a data-inspired culture looks like, and how to get there.
Data Inspired shows that the secret isn't to be more data-driven—it is to become data-inspired. This book reveals the crucial strategic distinction between using data to optimize existing operations and using them as a catalyst for deep transformation and innovation. Wernicke argues that this success hinges less on technology and more on reshaping an organization's culture and decision-making habits. And with the book's proven principles, real-world examples, and comprehensive toolbox of methods for building a culture of evidence-based inquiry, readers will learn that success means far more than just adding more data to a business: it is about creating a thoroughly data-inspired organization with innovative work methods, new structures, and unmatched efficiency.
Data Inspired will help business leaders, managers, and data professionals move beyond incremental improvements to achieve lasting, powerful change.
Reviews
"This book reveals how most organizations are approaching data wrong—and illuminates how to get it right. Sebastian Wernicke is a wizard at using evidence to shape successful change, and his guidance is insightful, timely, and instantly actionable."—Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and Hidden Potential, host of the podcast ReThinking
"Successful modern organizations are increasingly leaving behind rigid bureaucracies to operate with far greater alignment and agility. To thrive, they need to embrace principles of decentralization, autonomy, and collaboration. This readable, accessible, and practical book offers a great starting point for building a culture in which rapid evidence-based learning at scale can become a reality."—Rita McGrath, faculty member, Columbia Business School, Thinkers50 top ten list of management thinkers
"Wernicke's refreshingly serious new book challenges readers to move beyond the myth that data deliver clarity on their own. With nuance and a healthy respect for complexity, Data Inspired illuminates why organizations must embrace evidence while resisting simplistic, data-driven quick fixes. His thoughtful analysis underscores a premise I strongly endorse: The value of data is realized in cultures that nurture inquiry, candor, and listening in teams with diverse perspectives. A persuasive and timely invitation to rethink how we learn, decide, and adapt in a world awash with information, this book will help leaders and teams reframe what it means to be evidence-based."—Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership, Harvard Business School, and author of Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well
"Data won't drive your transformation. But data can inspire it. Culture beats algorithms every time."—Seth Godin, entrepreneur, blogger, and author of This Is Strategy: Make Better Plans
"This beautifully written book shows us why and how we need to raise our aspirations and move from building a data-driven organization to a data-inspired organization. Wernicke describes with both clarity and nuance what leaders need to understand about human decision-making, the power and limitations of emerging technologies, and what it takes to build and lead an organization in which human-AI collaboration creates value."—Linda A. Hill, Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, and coauthor of Genius at Scale: How Great Leaders Drive Innovation
"Data is the fuel of AI and, more importantly, better decisions and smarter actions. I love this book's focus on becoming data-driven, with maxims like 'culture first, tools second,' and data as 'a business driver, not a technical capability.' We needed Wernicke's advice a long time ago, but finally we have it."—Thomas H. Davenport, President's Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management, Babson College; fellow, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy; and author of Competing on Analytics, All In on AI, and Working with AI
"I've seen firsthand that the hardest part of building the future often isn't technology, but culture. Data Inspired is an essential roadmap for leaders who want to move beyond incremental optimization and inspire transformative innovation that truly matters."—Sebastian Thrun, founder, Google X and Udacity
"For leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors who suspect they're drowning in information but starving for meaning, Data Inspired is an indispensable compass."—Guy Spier, author, The Education of a Value Investor
