From Data Aware to Data Driven: The Hidden Cost of Standing Still

Data: We all collect it, but how are we using it? In a recent webinar—hosted by Bill Sheehan, global head of association strategy at D2L, and Alex Mouw, principal strategic advisor at Amazon Web Services—the conversation focused on uncovering the power of being data-driven and the cost of associations not using it to their advantage. 

In this blog post, we’ll share some tips from Bill and Alex’s discussion around the impact data can have on associations and the risks of not acting on it. 

Making Decisions Based on Old Data 

For many organizations, old data is used to make important decisions—without digging into too much detail—to set goals for the future. For example, creating growth targets that build off the previous year’s success without considering market conditions. 

“In many organizations, we still work by hunch,” said Mouw, giving the common example of expecting performance, membership or growth in an upcoming year to be the same as the previous, plus 5%.  

“We can very quickly demotivate already stressed teams if we set targets for things that are not based on what the market can support,” she continued. “It’s important for organizational leaders to be asking the questions around, can you show me the data that led you to make that choice? Or can you show me the data that makes you suggest that we can move in this direction?” 

Data-driven organizations should be tapping into the why behind the decision-making process. Some common questions to ask include: 

• What does the market actually support? 
• Where is the real growth potential? 
• What should we stop doing? 

Becoming truly data-driven doesn’t mean abandoning experience or intuition. It means going beyond just tracking performance, and instead using data to challenge assumptions, test ideas and identify opportunities so leaders can make decisions based on what’s actually happening. 

The Real Barrier Isn’t Technology—It’s Culture 

A key theme discussed in the webinar was how data transformation is a cultural shift. 

A technology challenge would be implementing an analytics tool or building dashboards. A cultural challenge focuses more on expecting evidence in decision making, asking better questions and acting on insights. 

“Many organizations have made decisions for a long time based on hunches,” explained Mouw. “That experience is absolutely essential because that combined with the data helps us ask questions, pull on those threads and figure out what’s really happening.” 

As mentioned earlier, even just having senior leaders ask the simple question about showing data that led to a decision can help overcome the cultural challenge and transform how teams operate. 

Over time, those small changes build new habits—encouraging teams to be more curious, look for evidence and use insights to guide their thinking. In that way, being data-driven becomes about strengthening human experience or intuition. Pairing those instincts with data can help organizations better understand what’s happening and respond with greater confidence. 

Why Standing Still Is Riskier Than Moving Forward 

It’s no secret that the association space is changing faster than ever. 

“Even with data-driven transformation, if you’re not adapting to all the data that is available to you and using tools that are available to you, it’s going to be very, very hard to catch up,” said Sheehan during the webinar.  

AI continues to push new boundaries, new competitors are entering the association space and members have higher expectations for personalized experiences. Many associations are already strapped both financially or administratively and must now find ways to show their continued relevance. 

When considering the notion of staying relevant, speed matters. 

“Many associations and nonprofits traditionally have moved very slowly to change direction or to make decisions,” said Mouw. “The power here is in enabling faster decision making so that we can be more agile and take advantage of those opportunities.” 

For associations, faster decision-making can be a competitive advantage—something that can be achieved when data driven. 

What Separates High-Performing Data-Driven Organizations 

As organizations begin to move beyond simply collecting data, a clear pattern emerges. The most successful organizations don’t just have access to insights—they build habits, processes and expectations that make data central to how decisions are made. 

Some examples of how many high-performing organizations are using data include: 

• expecting data in decision-making conversations 
• moving quickly instead of waiting for perfect information 
• using insights to personalize experiences 
• treating data as a strategic asset 

Senior leaders need to continue to make it an expectation that data should be brought to meetings to back up claims, making it a habit.   

“The more times that you’re asked to bring data to a conversation, the more curious you’re going to get about the data and the more prepared you’re going to be to answer those questions,” said Mouw. Any new questions come up that can’t be answered right away can lead to further data collection. 

Over time, those expectations create a cycle where questions lead to insights, and insights lead to better decisions. As curiosity grows, so does the organization’s ability to use data to adapt and move forward with confidence. 

The Question Every Organization Should Ask 

“Are you using data to justify past decisions, or are you using it to shape better future ones?” asked Sheehan at the start of the webinar. 

Becoming data-driven doesn’t start with technology. It starts with leaders asking better questions, teams embracing evidence and organizations choosing action over hesitation. 

Because in today’s environment, the real risk isn’t experimenting with data. It’s standing still. 

Want more details on what was covered in the blog post? Check out the full webinar on demand.

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