Abstraction never ends
Deriving meaning from information is, for any organization, a process of self-discovery. An endless game, not a tool purchase.
Pretty much all we do, every single day, is transform information. That will never go away.
Abstraction never ends. It just evolves to newer levels of complexity. It happens to communication, societies, software, biology… you name it.
For organizations, being data-driven isn’t just setting up a data factory with a row of specialized tools. Transforming information and deriving meaning is, to some extent, a process of self-discovery for any organization. It will never be easy, never be straightforward, and never be solved entirely.
But it can be fulfilling and worth the effort if approached as an evolving process, an endless game.
So don’t just throw money at this quest hoping a bunch of tools will solve your data problems. It will only drain your pockets, and the mental health of your analysts and engineers.