4 min read Free

The Company’s Hidden Data Model Series #4: Relationships Matter More Than Labels

Operational truth resides less in named objects than in the links among customers, contracts, products, invoices, users, and obligations. Defining those relationships before integrating systems prevents technically valid joins from concealing flawed business assumptions.
4 min read Free

The Company’s Hidden Data Model Series #3: The Core Objects of the Business

Effective ontology begins by identifying the small set of objects that repeatedly carry money, rights, obligations, work, and accountability. Defining them independently of software defaults gives the company a coherent operating model across systems.
4 min read Free

The Company’s Hidden Data Model Series #2: Bad Definitions Create Bad Decisions

Familiar terms such as customer, active, churn, and revenue often conceal incompatible meanings across functions. Clarifying which definition governs each decision exposes tradeoffs, reduces political disputes, and keeps dashboards or AI from blending distinct realities.
4 min read Free

The Company’s Hidden Data Model Series #1: Your Company Already Has a Hidden Data Model

Every company already encodes a model of reality across its systems, dashboards, spreadsheets, and workflows. Recognizing that model as an executable operating system explains why isolated data cleanup cannot reconcile conflicting definitions, relationships, and time windows.
3 min read Free

Internal Communication Series #10: Build the Internal Communication System Map

Mapping how decisions, priorities, risks, learning, and feedback move through a company reveals missing owners, duplicated rituals, dead signals, and false transparency. The resulting system view helps leaders redesign communication at its structural weak points.
3 min read Free

Internal Communication Series #9: Bad News, Rumors, Confidentiality, and Trust

Trust under stress depends on moving bad news before narrative polish, explaining legitimate confidentiality, and filling information gaps credibly. A deliberate fast lane for risk preserves options while preventing silence and partial truth from hardening into rumor.
3 min read Free

Internal Communication Series #8: Source of Truth, Search, and the End of Slack Archaeology

Reliable retrieval begins with authoritative information that has clear ownership, scope, status, update rules, and archival discipline. Search and AI cannot compensate for contradictory records, stale documents, vague naming, or knowledge trapped in private memory.
3 min read Free

Internal Communication Series #7: Channel Strategy: What Belongs in Slack, Docs, Email, Meetings, Dashboards, All-Hands, and 1:1s

Communication channels become trustworthy when each is assigned work suited to its speed, durability, audience, confidentiality, and emotional bandwidth. Matching signal types to channel strengths keeps coordination moving while preserving decisions and context as organizational memory.

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