In their recently published book, End-to-End Strategy Execution, William Ulrich and Charles Bowman said that problematic data is one of the seven deadly patterns undermining strategy execution. In this podcast episode, they interview distinguished guests, John Bottega, President of EDMA, and Professor Peter Aiken, President of DAMA – the two leading global associations focused on data. Join the podcast as they help listeners understand and address the mounting data challenges presented by poorly architected, incomplete, redundant, and low-quality data. With data being critical to business viability and the ability to realize the promise of artificial intelligence, the interview focuses on what it takes for an organization to become data driven, laying out practical options for near-term and long-term success.

A deteriorating business ecosystem is like an aging house, with inhabiting customers, partners, and business stakeholders abandoning it as the situation degrades. Deteriorating architecture, whether it applies to a building, a bridge, or a business ecosystem, is systemic and can't be addressed by short-term thinking and patchwork solutions. In chapter 6 of their book, End-to-End Strategy Execution, William Ulrich and Charles Bowman identify best practices for justifying, funding, and formalizing business and IT architecture and design, which in turn form the basis for initiative planning, roadmap creation, and solution deployment. Check out this episode and hear how to flip the script on the architecture and design cacophony that undermines planning and execution teams and derails well-intended strategies and corresponding initiatives.

Chapter 5 of our recently published book, End-to-End Strategy Execution, states that the omission of a comprehensive, well-articulated impact assessment is a major factor undermining successful strategy execution. Impact assessments serve as the focal point for dissecting, validating, and synchronizing business goals, objectives, and related courses of action. Specifically, the episode discusses why and how organizations should prioritize, justify, and fund business-first impact assessments by incorporating them into annual planning cycles that leverage built-in feedback loops. Topics include scoping the assessment, driving technical assessments through a business lens, and laying the foundation for architecting the future state. Listen in and learn why this underappreciated yet critical element of strategy execution is not just a luxury, but a necessity.