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Most CEOs think their data problems are unique. Turns out, whether you're running a $15M fintech or securing data for the White House, the core challenge is the same: getting people actually to care about the data you're providing.

I just had an eye-opening conversation with Dia Adams, who is a former White House data strategist, mentee of General Colin Powell, and someone who's transformed data cultures at Bank of America, J&J, and the SEC. Dia achieved something remarkable: a 600% increase in data catalog engagement at the SEC, not by building fancier dashboards, but by understanding human psychology.

Here's what growing companies can learn from someone who's done data at the highest stakes imaginable

• Why the fastest companies often have the slowest data progress (and why that's killing your growth)

• The General Powell leadership principle that will transform how you gather business intelligence

• How to know if your dashboards are expensive wallpaper vs. actual decision drivers

  
  

Let me share what hit me hardest.

3 Hard Truths About Scaling With Data (From Someone Who Did It at the White House)

One conversation can change how you see everything. My chat with Dia Adams was one of those conversations.

Here are the insights that stopped me cold:

Truth #1: Your Speed Is Your Biggest Data Enemy

Dia pointed out something counterintuitive: "The government moves slow... and that's not always necessarily a bad thing."

Now, before you roll your eyes, consider this. In growth-stage companies, you move at lightning speed but almost exclusively on client delivery. You're so busy rowing the boat that you never stop to fix the holes in the hull.

Here's what I see constantly: CEOs postponing data infrastructure because "we need to focus on growth."

But you're already growing blind. Every week you delay is another week of decisions based on gut feel rather than reality.

Dia mentioned that in government, slow movement comes from the weight of consequences. When mistakes cost lives, you measure twice. In your business, mistakes might not cost lives, but they're costing you competitive advantage every single day.

Truth #2: Your Best Intelligence Is Being Ignored

General Colin Powell taught Dia a lesson that transformed her approach: "People at the bottom know what's going on before the top knows what's going on."

When Powell visited organizations, he'd explicitly ask junior people for their perspectives even when instructed not to speak. Why? Because information travels slowly up organizations. By the time it reaches you, it's been filtered, sanitized, and stripped of the uncomfortable truths you need to hear.

But here's the more complicated truth I've observed: Sometimes CEOs don't want data that challenges their assumptions. They want validation, not information. If that's you, you're not leading—you're performing.

Your customer service reps know why deals are really lost. Your junior analysts see patterns your dashboards miss. But are you listening? Or are you, as Powell warned, no longer the leader because people have stopped bringing you problems?

Truth #3: If They're Not Acting, You're Not Valuable

Dia's 600% engagement increase didn't come from prettier charts. It came from a simple principle: make it so valuable they can't ignore it. Here's my litmus test: If someone looks at your dashboard and says, "Oh, that's nice," you've failed. Data should prompt action, not admiration.

At the SEC, Dia didn't just visualize data; she solved specific pain points. She found data people needed but couldn't access. She wrote for economists AND lawyers, meeting each where they were.

She made sharing insights effortless.

Most importantly, she made things "Wall Street Journal quality" not because it needed to be fancy, but because it needed to be immediately actionable for busy executives.

The companies that win in the next decade won't be the ones with the most data. They'll be the ones who listen to it, especially when it's uncomfortable.

Take one action this week: Have coffee with someone two levels below you and ask them what data they wish leadership could see. You might be surprised by what you learn.