Jorge and Obi discuss data and nkd 360

NKD 360: Why having data alone isn’t enough…

Money used to make the world go around… now it’s data. But, data without a story is about as useful as a chocolate teapot…

Why having data isn’t enough… how NKD 360 can turn your data into a story worth telling

At the weekend, this image on Twitter caught my eye…

Illustrations of 6 squares showing how random dots can have different meaning from a certain perspective

The simplicity with which it tells the story of how we know what we know is brilliant:

  • There are things, stuff, bits and pieces that exist – this is data
  • These things, when categorised, become information
  • When we know what, when, how, and why information is the same or different, then we have knowledge
  • Insight is the moment when we see how two otherwise disparate things are similar
  • Wisdom is being able join two otherwise disparate things together 
  • And finally, and perhaps most importantly, a Conspiracy Theory is being able to join every single thing to every single other thing to make something totally irrational, rational

MIND BLOWN! 

At this point, you’re probably thinking one of two things: 

  1. Duh! You’re not telling me I don’t already know! 
  2. Wow! I’m having an epiphany… what next?

If you’re in category 1, then as well as knowing how data can be transformed into insights and wisdom, then you’re probably already leveraging data analysis to make decisions in your business to improve your bottom line and make the world of work better for your people… right? If you’re not, then you’re in category 2… 

If you’re in category 2, then… keep reading! 

Telling a story with your data

Data, by itself, is just things… stuff… bits… pieces…

It needs to be categorised and connected to tell a story that helps inform the decisions you make and the changes you need to make. The categories and connections need to be meaningful to drive personal accountability and purposeful conversations.

NKD 360 does just that.

It helps team leaders collect data about themselves from their team members, peers and their manager (and for the truly brave, their customers and suppliers). It helps categorise that data into information to help build knowledge and understanding and connections to uncover insights, which leads to wisdom about personal leadership… and hopefully no conspiracy theories crop up! 

But where NKD 360 is truly unique is in its ability to be customisable around your business leadership values and the debriefing and coaching conversations that happen after NKD 360 has happened. 

NKD 360 is customisable around your business leadership values

Broadly speaking, off-the-shelf 360 feedback products ask generic questions that tell you nothing about the team leader. Trying to transform that data into information, and furthermore, into knowledge, insight and wisdom, in a compelling way, is a herculean task! And not only this… but how beneficial and meaningful is the feedback to team leader when all they see on the page are ratings in generic leadership qualities, like “ability to problem-solve ability” and “nice people person”?

By using your organisation’s leadership values, NKD 360, in some ways, skips the unconnected data stage, and begins with categorised information – respondents can already see how certain behaviours and actions are linked to particular leadership values. When it’s time to dissect the results, getting to knowledge, insight and wisdom is fast-tracked because the results are already part of your organisation’s ecosystem; the results speak to your team leader in a much more meaningful way because the results are linked to your values, your strategy, your brand.

NKD 360 includes debriefing and coaching conversations

To reach the knowledge, insight and wisdom stages, the right connections need to be made… otherwise, team leaders will turn the feedback results into conspiracy theories… true or false! 

NKD 360 includes debrief and coaching conversations that occur after the feedback has been completed to ensure that team leaders make the right connections between their experiences and the experiences of those around them. These conversations, the lines between the dots, are perhaps more important than the dots themselves because it’s in making the connections that team leaders build capability as well as confidence and fully understand the true impact of their leadership.

360 feedback is an enormously powerful tool for personal and professional growth… but only when the data is transformed into meaningful information, knowledge, insights and wisdom. It’s the connections, the conversations that create those connections and the grounding of those conversations and connections in specific leadership values that ensure the data doesn’t manifest into conspiracy theories that can greatly damage self-esteem and self-efficacy.