Abraham Lincoln once said, “Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way.” Pretty good advice for President’s Day. He was speaking then as a member of the House of Representatives in support of an internal improvements bill. The opponents of the bill were bringing up reasons why internal improvements couldn’t be implemented. Lincoln was pointing out that the important thing was to first agree on whether internal improvements were a good idea.

Using information to improve business performance is similar. It is such a new approach for most organizations that it is easy to get stuck listing all the reasons why the right data isn’t available or can’t be trusted. Our Making Information Powerful methodology provides a roadmap around such obstacles. Our expertise from dozens of projects gets us quickly to the finish line.

It’s important to start by simply deciding that you can use information to improve business performance and that you will. We often conduct two day or one week Proof of Concept projects that deliver proof of the value of information and remove many of the imaginary roadblocks to success. Once you know that the thing can be done and determine that it shall be done – we can find the way.

Ordinarily we tend to recommend buying rather than building. Buying commercial off the shelf software is almost always cheaper and more effective than building custom applications. Hiring consultants with specific skills can get an organization very quickly to the cusp of improved business performance based on information.

But how to get beyond the cusp? How can organizations truly make information powerful?

There is a danger that the increased hype around information may drive some organizations to buy more technology than their organization can absorb.  This article in the Sunday New York Times implies that data is somehow new and mysterious and requires Yale MBA graduates. But here at Perkins we’ve been doing this work with clients since 1997. We believe that organizations need to build their information usage capacity internally over time by developing the analytical muscle they already have.

There are some simple questions that can identify analytical candidates that already work in the business. Putting those candidates through a guided development process to build their vocabulary and communications capabilities will produce analysts whose skills and background are aligned with the business. They’ll already have the relationships and communication channels. They’ll have the muscle in the organization to develop insights and also drive decisions and outcomes from those insights.

The successful combination is to use consultants on project work while continuing to build internal strategic alignment, confidence in information, communication skills and “insight to decisions” processes. Building on an  motivated and educated internal staff will truly make information powerful.