De-risking data projects: The practical side of innovation

Innovation in data teams doesn’t fail because of bad ideas. It fails because the first idea gets built too fast, without checking if it’s the right one. 

A request comes in, someone has a good idea, and within days, dashboards are being built or code is being written. It looks like progress, but often, it’s a false start. “What people ask for is not always what they actually need,” says Youri, our Innovation Lead. 

That's why real innovation doesn’t begin with building. It begins with understanding.

When speed becomes waste

If you build the wrong solution, you don’t just waste time; you risk building something no one uses. It happens most often in teams with strong technical skills. A Power BI developer hears a request and jumps in to help.

“People tend to jump into solutions too fast,” says Youri. “The request you get is often not the root cause of the problem.”

As he puts it: “If you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail. The intention is good. But without taking time to observe, test, and involve users early on, teams end up solving the wrong problem.”

The key is to treat innovation as a hands-on process, grounded in a clear, structured approach. 

Structure at the start

At All Your BI, before we build anything, we ask two essential questions:

1. Are we solving the right problem?
2. Are we using the right kind of solution?

It sounds simple. But skipping this step is where most projects go wrong.

As Youri puts it: “What we’re doing is we’re de-risking a project. You’ll still face changes down the line. But by doing the right work at the start, the bandwidth of uncertainty is much smaller.”

In practical terms, that means:

• Fewer surprises during development
• Less wasted effort
• And a much higher chance that the solution gets adopted

Inside our innovation process

So what does that structured start actually look like? It means going to where the work happens. Talking to users. Observing workflows. Running design sprints and Gemba walks to uncover what’s really going on before jumping to solutions.

We prototype early, test ideas quickly, and co-create with the people who will actually use the tools. Not to slow things down, but to build confidence before committing development time.

That’s where the real value lies. “It’s a smarter, leaner way to build,” says Youri. “It feels like it takes more time in the beginning, but it saves you so much more in the end.”

Better tools, built together

This approach doesn’t just lead to better tools. It leads to tools people actually use, because they helped shape them.

“You engage users early on. They invest time and mental effort. And when the result comes, they recognize it. They’ve contributed. That creates emotional connection. And it makes adoption much easier.”

That’s the difference. When people feel ownership, adoption happens naturally. Not because it’s pushed, but because it clicks.

That’s exactly what our structured approach is designed to do: bridge that gap and de-risk data projects. Because the real risk isn’t moving slow; it’s building fast in the wrong direction.

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