Your organization may have the right data. Is it communicating what that data means?
We live in a world where information is abundant. Organizations collect more data, build more sophisticated analyses, and invest in increasingly powerful tools to make sense of complex problems. Yet one challenge persists: getting people to understand what the information actually means.
For senior leaders, this is a consequential distinction. Data can inform strategy, reveal opportunities, and support critical decisions. Its value, however, depends on more than the quality of the analysis. It also depends on how people interpret, present, and communicate that information to others.
And that is where an unexpected obstacle emerges: sometimes, the biggest challenge isn’t the data itself. It’s how we use it.
Consider the familiar meeting where a colleague presents slide after slide of data, leaving the audience to determine what deserves their attention. Or the discussion in which so much time is spent examining the details that the larger picture gets lost. In other situations, important claims lack the context or clarity needed for others to evaluate them. Even when the information is accurate and the analysis is sound, the message can fall short of its potential.
These moments are easy to dismiss as presentation problems. In reality, they point to a deeper question for leaders: How can we change the way people work with data so that information becomes insight, and insight can lead to action?
Answering that question requires us to look beyond charts, dashboards, and presentation techniques. It means examining the habits and assumptions that shape how people communicate data in the workplace. What do we choose to emphasize? How do we decide what our audience needs to know? And how do we ensure that the meaning behind the numbers doesn’t get lost along the way?
In my work with executive teams, scientists, and medical experts, I’ve seen how this challenge takes different forms depending on the audience and the information being communicated. Yet the underlying question remains the same: how do we help people move beyond understanding the data to recognizing what it means and what to do with it?
That question becomes especially important when people work across functions, disciplines, and levels of technical expertise. What feels obvious to the person who has spent weeks analyzing a problem may be anything but obvious to the executive responsible for making a decision.
Bridging that gap takes more than simplifying a slide or adding a compelling chart. It calls for a more deliberate relationship with data and a clearer understanding of our responsibility to the people receiving it.
My book, Communicate with Mastery, explores how to communicate effectively in the world of data. That work draws on more than 25 years of teaching and coaching communication, including developing the communication curriculum at Stanford Graduate School of Business and teaching today’s master’s students in communication at USC.
At the MMA IMPACT Indonesia 2026 Forum on November 5, I’ll explore some of the recurring obstacles that prevent data from reaching its full communicative potential, and how leaders can begin to change the way their teams approach data communication.
I look forward to joining the Marketing + Media Alliance (MMA) community for this conversation.
See JD in Action before you join him at MMA IMPACT Indonesia 2026:
