#criticaldataelements

This time, I am focusing on Critical Data Elements and, more importantly, the perspectives through which they must be understood. CDEs are not valuable on their own. Their value emerges only when they are placed in the right context, tied to business processes, and supported by clear roles that both contribute to and rely on these perspectives. Before reading this post, I strongly recommend…

In my previous post, I argued that Critical Data Elements are not defined by importance. They are defined by process dependency. Data does not become critical because it exists or because it sounds important. It becomes critical because something in the business breaks when it is wrong, late, missing, or ambiguous. That insight exposes a deeper theme.If we want to understand why data matters, we…

Most definitions of Critical Data Elements, CDEs, start the same way. “A CDE is data that is critical to the company”. That statement is true and still not very useful. Because it avoids the only question that matters. Critical for what. Data does not create value on its own. It never has. All value in a company is created through work being done. Decisions taken, actions executed, obligations…