Book Review - The Data Hero Playbook

The Data Hero Playbook by Malcom Hawker focuses on the critical determinants of data success: leadership, culture, and strategic practice. These often get lost amid the excitement of technological execution.

The book begins by dissecting unhelpful behaviors, such as the overuse of "garbage in, garbage out," blaming a lack of data literacy and ownership, "learned helplessness," and spending years building robust data platforms before delivering anything to the business. I agree with Malcolm that data culture is an outcome of a good data leader's success, not a prerequisite for it. The true obstacle to data success isn't technology; it's a status quo mindset that resists innovation and customer-centricity.

The chapter on IT ecosystems and the reinforcing feedback loop—data leaders influenced by analyst firms, which in turn are influenced by consulting firms and product vendors—was both amusing and sadly accurate. The anecdote about "Data Literacy" appearing as a dropdown option in an analyst company survey, subsequently elevating it to a major issue for data success, was particularly hilarious.

Malcolm excels at reminding data leaders that their purpose is to serve the organization's quest to leverage data for business goals. The book positions data leaders as potential future heroes if they break free from legacy thinking and adopt a growth mindset. He later proposes essential cultural shifts, the use of product managers and value engineers, steps to overcome inertia and drive transformation, and the alignment of data strategy with enterprise goals and customer needs. He gives specific actionable ideas throughout the book on how to bring the change. For example:

1. Using BRDs for data projects to drive connection to business.

2. Using job shadowing programs for data people develop empathy.

3. Using surveys for proactively getting feedback from data customers.

4. Have a product marketing function for user enablement, training, internal marketing etc.

5. Balance ROI with internal customer openness and feasibility when prioritizing initiatives.

Applying growth orientations to the DAMA Wheel on Figure 7.3 was useful to relate current thinking to where Malcom wants us to go. MVP is more like Customer 180 and not Customer 360 makes so much sense. Focus on value and build frameworks as you go is sensible. Being mindful of language as a senior leader is something we all forget and Malcolm calls that out in the powerful ‘Look Inward Before Looking Outward’ chapter.

Written in an accessible, conversational style, the book is peppered with anecdotes from Malcolm's diverse data roles, beginning with AOL. I particularly enjoyed how he wove in stories—from learning to appreciate gefilte fish to his Caribbean island introspection that led to a realization of greater career accountability. These refreshingly honest stories effectively underscore his points. I also appreciated his use of quotes from podcast guests to drive home key messages.