Insights

Author Interview – John Ladley

By Daragh O Brien

August 12, 2021

7min read

Castlebridge turned 12 in July of this year. We decided to celebrate by giving away some data management books.

But then we thought… hang on, we know a lot of authors who have influenced our thinking over the years. Wouldn’t it be fun to have a chat with them to find out about one of their books and to find out what books have inspired or influenced their thinking about data, data management, or management in general. And then wouldn’t it be fun to give away copies of those books to people who enter a small competition.

So, we sent some emails out to our author friends. And we were blown away by the immediate positive responses.

The first up is John Ladley, one of our Emeritus Advisors.

John Ladley – Featured Author

In this short video, John talks about one of his books, Data Governance (2nd Edition) and how the book evolved. He also talks about topics he would, in hindsight, have wanted to include in the book. One key point John touches on is how, as a data management professional, it is important to continually develop your thinking and perspectives. He sets this out as he explains how, while this book is billed as a 2nd Edition to his earlier Data Governance 1st Edition, in reality it is a significant addition with substantial amounts of new content and is more of a sequel than an update.

John also talks about the importance of strategy execution in data management and how that is a key gap in many organisations. In that context he discusses the book that he selected as one that has influenced his thinking. John’s key point is that it is easy to do all the performance of strategy and data strategy (charters, frameworks, maturity assessments, etc.) but the actual performing of strategy involves tackling issues and getting stuff done.

He also highlights the importance for data management professionals to read extensively outside of data management so that they can develop the wider skill sets and insights necessary to succeed at delivering value through data.

Competition Time

If you would like to be entered into a draw to win some of the books referenced by John in this video and in the rest of the videos we’re running this month, please provide your email address and an answer to the simple question in the form below. The terms and conditions for the competition can be found here: