CDO legacy — what will be remembered when you have left?

Day 0 of landing that CDO role you have always wanted, which should force you to think today about what your legacy will be! There is a hard reality that politics is fickle, culture is fragile, and you never know how long you will be valued or a team member for a host of reasons. Blame for data and digital failures of your predecessor may be your nemesis.

When a government changes, there is a review of what can be undone really quicky, what part of the old infrastructure can we change to show immediate action. The consequences are less important than the story of a new direction. This is a dangerous president if data is involved.

As the new person in the role, you are looking for a few quick wins. There is a limited time between arrival and making significant changes/ recommendations before running at the pace of path dependency becomes normal.

However, consider both sides;

• the person who left — what legacy have the left?
• When you leave — what legacy will you want to remain?

The previous CDO will leave you the legacy of their selected team, processes/ work methods and the data structure/ ontology. You will quickly find out if you agree with your predecessor’s ability to find, select and retain an amazing team. Often we…