data-team-positioning

Three Stances

Data teams operate in one of three positions. Most are stuck at position 1.

1. Request Taker

"Tell us what to build." The backlog is a queue of stakeholder requests. Prioritization is based on who asked loudest or most recently. The team is measured on throughput: stories completed, dashboards shipped, tickets closed.

Why it fails: The team builds what was asked for, not what's needed. No discovery means no understanding of the actual problem. Stakeholders lose trust when delivered products don't solve their real need.

2. Request Shaper

"You asked for X, here's why Y is better." The team pushes back on requests, translating vague asks into buildable specs. Uses stakeholder-alignment patterns to reframe requests around decisions and outcomes.

Why it's not enough: Still reactive. The team only works on problems that stakeholders bring to them. Important problems that stakeholders don't know to ask about go unsolved.

3. Demand Shaper

"We interviewed 15 stakeholders, here are the top 3 problems." The team runs its own discovery. Consumer evidence drives prioritization, not stakeholder politics. The team with the most evidence has the most influence.