Why Data Teams Are Sabotaging Their Own Strategic Influence
For the past fifteen years, i’ve worked with data practitioners across industries, retail, healthcare, tech, finance, entertainment. Different businesses, same story. Teams feel frustrated and underappreciated. They’re buried in requests for reports and dashboards, treated as service providers, and excluded from strategic conversations.
The complaints are familiar:
“We don’t have a seat at the table.”
“The business doesn’t respect us.”
“Leadership ignores our insights.”
Yet beneath the frustration lies a paradox. The very behaviors and beliefs that define how most data teams work are the same ones sabotaging their influence. We want respect but avoid accountability. We want to be strategic, but we refuse to step into the role.
We’re doing this to ourselves.
And unless we change, we’ll automate ourselves into irrelevance.
The CEO’s Complaint That Exposes Everything
Not long ago, a simple exchange surfaced online that captured this dynamic perfectly:
CEO: “My data team is unhelpful.”
— Why?
CEO: “They tell me what is happening, but they don’t tell me why it’s happening or what I should do about it.”
This wasn’t a bitter rant. It was a frustrated plea.
Executives don’t want more charts or a faster pipeline. They want understanding. They want clarity. They want recommendations they can act on.
The most disappointing part? The data community’s reaction:
“That’s not our job, go hire a qualitative researcher.”
“Data provides clarity, not answers.”
“That’s on the CEO, they should figure it out.”
“Business people are better at making sense of data than analysts.”
“It’s not realistic to expect data people to understand how businesses work.”
Each response revealed how deeply entrenched our limiting mindsets are. We say we want to be leaders. But when given the chance, we retreat back into comfort zones, hiding behind role definitions, technical expertise, and misplaced humility.
The Two Deadly Mindsets Destroying Data Teams
Through our work at 33 Sticks, mentoring hundreds of practitioners, we’ve seen two beliefs repeatedly strip data teams of influence.
Mindset #1: “It’s Not My Job.”
This is the most pervasive. Analysts define their role narrowly. We collect, we clean, and we report. Provide numbers, but never interpretation. They see themselves as objective and neutral, guardians of facts.
It feels safe. It avoids risk. And it guarantees obsolescence.
When you act as nothing more than a data provider, you reduce yourself to a human API. APIs are easy to automate. And today, automation is already eating the work of basic collection, processing, and reporting.
Every time you say “that’s not my job,” what leadership hears is, “I don’t want responsibility for impact.” No executive is going to invite that mindset into the boardroom.
Mindset #2: Imposter Syndrome on Steroids
The second belief is a corrosive lack of confidence. The belief that analysts aren’t qualified to provide business recommendations. Many convince themselves that business strategy is “not their lane.”
This form of imposter syndrome is so deep that some practitioners resist even learning about the business they serve. They see business acumen as someone else’s responsibility.
The reality is that when you’re closest to the data and you also understand the business, you are in the strongest possible position to provide game-changing insight.
The fear of “what if I’m wrong?” is understandable but leadership doesn’t expect perfection. They expect perspective, judgment, and a willingness to stand behind your analysis.
The Transformation Process: From Data Pusher to Strategic Partner
Moving from a provider role to a strategic partner role requires reimagining what it means to be a data professional. It’s not an overnight switch, it’s a gradual evolution. But the steps are clear.
Stage 1: Accept the Expanded Role
The first hurdle is psychological. You have to accept that offering recommendations isn’t overstepping. It’s fulfilling the very need leadership has been asking you to fill.
This stage is uncomfortable because it forces you to confront long-held professional identities. Many analysts define themselves by neutrality. Shifting into a partner role requires shedding that shield.
Stage 2: Develop Business Acumen
Elite analysts don’t just know numbers, they know the business inside and out. That means:
Understanding the industry landscape and competitors.
Grasping customer behavior patterns and market dynamics.
Knowing the company’s financial drivers and operational constraints.
Staying aligned with strategic goals and organizational pressures.
Without this context, data is just noise. With it, data becomes intelligence.
Stage 3: Shift from Reporting to Intelligence
Begin with deeper questions:
Why is this happening?
What are the implications?
What actions could we take?
How will we measure impact?
This doesn’t mean ignoring methodology. It means leading with meaning, not mechanics.
Stage 4: Engage Proactively
Don’t wait to be asked for a report. Join business conversations. Sit in planning meetings. Anticipate information needs. When executives realize you surface insights before they know they need them, your status shifts immediately.
Stage 5: Direct Leadership Interface
The pinnacle of the journey is engaging directly with leadership as peers. Present findings with conviction. Make recommendations with courage. Own the outcomes of your advice.
At this stage, you’re no longer a technician in the basement. You’re a trusted advisor at the table.
The Existential Threat of Automation
While data teams debate boundaries, technology is advancing rapidly. AI can already handle much of what data teams do today:
Automated data collection and transformation.
AI-driven dashboards.
Machine learning models that detect anomalies and patterns.
Natural language tools that generate surface-level insights.
What remains irreplaceable is the human element of strategic judgment, contextual understanding, and the ability to navigate trade-offs. That’s where influence lives. That’s what earns trust.
The window is closing. Data practitioners who step into this role will thrive. Those who don’t will be replaced.
What Success Looks Like
At 33 Sticks, we’ve seen practitioners transform. The differences are night and day:
Average Analyst: Delivers reports, explains metrics, avoids recommendations. Seen as a service provider.
Strategic Analyst: Connects dots across business functions, anticipates questions, offers actionable paths forward. Seen as an indispensable advisor.
Daily routines change. Average analysts bury themselves in spreadsheets. Strategic analysts spend time in cross-functional meetings, engaging with marketing, finance, and product teams.
Communication shifts. Average analysts explain processes. Strategic analysts frame discussions around business impact.
Identity shifts. Average analysts see themselves as data specialists. Strategic analysts see themselves as strategists fluent in data.
This shift isn’t just career security, it’s career acceleration. These analysts command higher salaries, wield influence, and drive impact.
The Urgency of Now
The gap between what executives need and what most data teams deliver is widening. Every day we hesitate, automation advances another step.
A small group of practitioners has already crossed the threshold. They’ve developed business fluency, stepped into advisory roles, and secured their place at the leadership table.
The rest? They’re stuck debating whether interpretation is “their job,” while the ground is being pulled from under them.
The time is now to evolve or become obsolete.
Your Next Steps
If you see yourself in this article, if you’ve been waiting for permission to step up, then this is it.
Start Today. Every analysis should end with “why” and “what next.”
Learn Relentlessly. Dedicate time to understanding your industry and your company’s strategy.
Practice Recommendations. Build the muscle of forming opinions from your analysis.
Engage Proactively. Attend business meetings. Volunteer for strategic initiatives.
Frame in Business Terms. Talk about outcomes and impact, not process and tooling.
The Bottom Line
For years, data teams have asked for influence while refusing to do the work required to earn it. We’ve built our own professional prison.
The door is still open. Executives are asking, sometimes begging, for data teams to provide meaning, context, and recommendations.
The opportunity has never been greater. The risk of ignoring it has never been higher.
Ready to transform from data provider to strategic partner? At 33 Sticks, we specialize in helping data practitioners develop the business acumen and strategic mindset necessary to earn their seat at the leadership table. Because your data skills are valuable, but your strategic insights are invaluable.
