Distill

The scourge of data in most organizations is the ever-growing collection of reports that get generated month after month. New reports are created but seldom killed. The mass of data products quickly becomes difficult to navigate and the right information is hard to find. Even for the data that has found a suitable audience, there is seldom a feedback loop. The direction and needs of the organization may change, yet the content does not change to fit evolving demands.

Data products should be living documents. They should improve over time or be removed if they are no longer relevant. It is a matter of survival of the fittest.

Data fluent organizations recognize that too much content—particularly data content—will clog up the channels of communication. The data products must be distilled to the essential information. You want to clean out distractions and emphasize the most useful remaining parts.

To filter and clean your data product ecosystem, you need processes...