Data Stewards are Drowning, the Owner is Fine

This is the governance gap nobody puts on a slide:

• The Data Owner. Safe on their island. Writing strategy. Defining rules. Building theory. Wearing the best noise-cancelling (or should I say “Data Issue Cancelling”) headphones money can buy.
• The Data Stewards. Clinging to a wooden plank. Surrounded by sharks. Screaming for help. One wave away from going under.

Nobody planned it this way. It’s just what happens when roles are defined without designing the relationship between them.

• Owner = high authority, limited day-to-day execution
• Steward = high execution, low formal authority

The person who sees the problem can’t fix it. The person who can fix it doesn’t hear it.

That’s not a data problem. That’s a relationship problem.

How to avoid this?

Don’t just define the roles in your Target Operating Model. Design the relationship between them.

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