POV

Can data managers take inspiration from Marie Kondo’s principles that show us that “sparking joy” isn’t just about physical objects? Back in 2011, Marie Kondo became a household name thanks to her de-cluttering approach to household organization. Her book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”, focused on the sweeping benefits of the process of elimination and the joys of radical streamlining.

You might be wondering why we are leading off an article about data and how to make the most of it with Marie Kondo’s principles? The connection may be unexpected, but it’s deeply relevant. In today’s digital world in which data inundation is an occupational hazard for Chief Marketing Officers (as well as others who populate the C-Suite), the data crisis is an existential one – and her ideas serve as good inspiration for the way forward.

What’s more, AI is exponentially increasing the vastness of data in our lives (it can also solve the problem it creates, but more on that later). This isn’t just a management and organizational issue; it’s a personal and cognitive one. Research shows that when our brains are overstimulated, our decision-making suffers.

Cluttered Knowledge equals Cluttered Mind

Our everyday experiences reveal that the overwhelming tonnage of data pouring into our brains is impossibly difficult to capture, centralize, and manage. Too often that data is siloed and hidden. And when companies can’t find stuff, what do they do? They invest in duplicating what already exists… somewhere.

So even though it has become a cliché that business runs on data, the “running’ is seriously impaired.  That’s a tragic loss, because data – in the form of research, surveys, and other structured and unstructured content – is capable of unlocking untold insights and innovations. But it largely remains imprisoned, even though it can be a critical make-or-break factor in the success of everything from new products to opening new geographies.

A Marie Kondo-inspired approach to data can be transformative. Don’t be misled by the fact that her philosophy is built on the limits of the physical world – the confined geographies of our closets and junk drawers. While we have unlimited storage in the cloud, the truth of the underlying principles remains the same.

The essence of those principles is not to toss everything you don’t immediately need. As Kondo says: “The true purpose of tidying is not to cut down on your possessions or declutter your space. The ultimate goal is to spark joy every day and lead a joyful life.” That’s what she calls kurashi.

What follows are some strategies for applying and adapting her principles to data management. The problem is broader than you might think: recent research shows that “86% of organizations say their tech is inadequate or outdated, which also hinders them from effectively using their data.”

Commit Yourself to “Tidying Up”

Commitment is Kondo’s first rule for the home, and it applies to the enterprise side with remarkable consistency. People are people, and admitting we have a problem, and then committing ourselves to solving it, is the essential first step.

With data, you must arrive at the realization that you’ve been focused solely on its accumulation.  Data bulking is the norm, as budgets for surveys and other research are in billions.

So, instead of obsessing over how much data we have, we need to commit to how we access and deploy our data for competitive advantage. Even the largest enterprises pay stunningly insufficient attention to how their data is utilized, and how that utility is tracked and measured.

In this case, tidying up means “opening up” – and using AI to turn untold libraries of data into amazingly useful and business-building content that can be applied to make informed decisions that fuel successful innovation and long-term growth.

A Place for Everything, and Everything in Its Place

Here, Kondo deploys a well-established psychological truth: picturing something in your mind motivates you to act. Visualizing makes goals become more achievable. As such, CMOs should create three-dimensional mental maps of their current infrastructures.

Most infrastructures were built to be either rigid or isolated; the former creates a heavily guarded, centralized system, while the latter fragments data, making it difficult to share or communicate. Imagine millions of keys and millions of locks with no mechanisms to find the right combinations, to meet the right needs at the moment. 

Picture that, and now imagine the ideal data topography, built from scratch, using AI that is trained on your organization's knowledge.

The Magic of Simplicity

In this future but achievable state, data will have three characteristics: immediately identifiable, conceptually cross-referenceable, and kinetically fluid. This represents one departure from Marie’s approach; she prescribes that tidying up should happen by category, but with AI-powered knowledge management, there is no category or ontology. 

You can drop it all in glorious messiness, and withdraw it, on cue, with glorious precision, accuracy and relevance. Complex systems create resistance, simplicity will convert frustration to joy.

Consider if Your Data “Sparks Joy.”

This is perhaps the most famous of Kondo’s injunctions. She urges you to hold onto something, and if it doesn't bring you immediate joy – “…a little thrill, as if the cells in your body are slowly rising,” you should toss it.

Again, there's a twist for the enterprise. At any point in time, you don’t know – you can’t know – if a node of data will give you joy in the future. It might seem useless in the moment, but the next day or next month there could be a material change – a new competitive entry, a new regulation, a new consumer trend – that will make your cells dance with impossible-to-anticipate delight.

Plus, the utilization of generative AI as an integral part of data insights management takes everything a step further: once that node of data is identified, it can be acted upon instantly, turning what was once a laborious, manual process into a joyful way to navigate complex challenges with invaluable insight.

AI truly liberates data from clutter and makes it more accessible and valuable. AI-led data access can be the ultimate source of both expected and unexpected joy in the enterprise. It’s time to think of your research, your qualitative and quantitative insights, as objects of the highest corporate utility.