Every company says they’re data-driven. Almost none of them are. Being data-driven doesn’t mean having dashboards. It doesn’t mean running a report after the decision’s already been made. And it definitely doesn’t mean cherry-picking the number that supports what your gut already told you. Being data-driven means your data actually changes the decision. It means the answer surprises you and you follow it anyway. Most organizations aren’t set up to do that. Not because they lack data, but because they haven’t built the foundation that makes data trustworthy, connected, and actionable enough to actually override gut feelings. That’s what the Data-First Doctrine is built to fix. We’ve deployed this framework inside a multitude of organizations. It’s not a methodology deck that collects dust. It’s an operating system. Four interlocking pillars that take an organization to genuinely data-driven decision making. Here’s how it works. Pillar 1: The Process Maturity Framework Everything starts here. Before you can measure anything, you need stable, defined processes to measure. The Process Maturity Framework is the cornerstone of the Data-First Doctrine. We use an 8-level maturity scale that gives leadership a clear, honest picture of where their critical processes actually sit. Most organizations we assess land somewhere between Level 1 (the process exists but nobody owns it and nothing is documented) and Level 3 (someone drew a process map and identified key metrics, but there’s no standardization). The Process Maturity Framework has three phases. Levels 1–3 focus on definition, ownership, and understanding. Levels 4–5 push into standardization, measurement systems, and defect reduction. Levels 6–8 are where automation, innovation, and AI integration become possible. The first step of the Data-First Doctrine is to move critical organizational processes up to level 3 on the Process Maturity Framework. This will set the foundation for the work to come and will include clearly documenting and defining KPIs on core processes. Here’s the critical insight: you cannot automate a broken process. You’ll just automate the dysfunction faster. The Process Maturity Framework forces organizations to earn the right to automate by building the foundation first. Pillar 2: The Data Foundation Model Once your processes have reached level 3 on the Process Maturity Framework, the focus shifts to level 4. Level 4 is focused on standardization and measurement systems. This is where the Data Foundation Model comes in. In order to become data-driven you need a structure for that data that actually drives decisions. Most executives obsess over revenue, retention, and P&L. Which is fair, that’s the scoreboard. But here’s the problem: revenue is a lagging indicator. You can’t “fix” revenue. You can only fix the behaviors and operations underneath it that drive the result. The Data Foundation Model organizes your analytics into three tiers: Tier 1 — Executive Analytics (The Scoreboard): Revenue, P&L, NPS, customer acquisition cost. This tells you if you’re winning. Tier 2 — Operational Analytics (The Levers): Branch profitability, SLA performance, turnover rate, goal achievement. This tells you why results happen. Tier 3 — Performance Analytics (The Activity): Transaction-level data, cost per transaction, performance by employee, inventory levels. This tells you what actually happens. The power is in the hierarchy. When the scoreboard shows a problem, you pull the thread down through the levers to the activity level, and you find the root cause. No guessing. No opinions in a conference room. Data connected from top to bottom. This is called a hierarchal data structure, and it allows you to drill all the way through the hierarchy from executive measures to performance/transaction level details. Only with this structure of data can you properly diagnose issues and evaluate root causes. This pillar ties directly to achieving Level 4 on the Process Maturity Framework and continues to advance your organization towards a truly data-driven environment by building data structures that enable it. Pillar 3: The Role Clarity Engine You can have perfect processes and pristine data, and it still won’t matter if you have the wrong person in the seat or the right person in the wrong seat. That’s where the Role Clarity Engine comes in. Once you’ve established the data foundation model, you’ve built measurements systems that allow for effective evaluation of talent. It’s time to align talent appropriately throughout the organization. The Role Clarity Engine can be visualized as a wheel that starts with a Nucleus . The Nucleus is the center of the wheel and represents an individual’s fit in a specific role. Specifically, it represents the intersection of a person’s behavioral fit (persona), skill fit (capabilities), and motivation fit (desire). If the Nucleus is weak, the wheel breaks. But even with a strong Nucleus, people fail when organizations don’t clearly define three core components for executing within a role: Authority (what decisions can this person make?), Activity (what processes must they execute?), and Accountability (what metrics do they own?). Without this clarity, your best people burn out doing too much, your average people hide behind ambiguity, and nobody can tell you who actually owns the outcome. You must have the right Nucleus fit for a role, and then empower them with authority, defined activity, and clear accountability if you want them to be successful. The Role Clarity Engine is the key component to advancing a process to level 5 on the Process Maturity Framework. Pillar 4: Neural Business Architecture At this point you’ve advanced your critical processes through level 5 on the Process Maturity Framework, you have effective measurement systems and structures, and appropriate talent alignment within roles. Now it’s time for the payoff. Traditional businesses are reactive. A human sees a problem, investigates, decides on a fix, and implements it. That works, but it doesn’t scale. Neural Business Architecture is about building what we call an Intelligence Circuit — a four-step loop that turns your business into a proactive, self-correcting system: Step 1 — The Sensor (Detection): The system ingests live data from your Data Foundation Model. Inventory drops below a threshold. A KPI moves outside its normal range. The system sees it in real time. Step 2 — The Brain (Cognition): AI and logic apply rules and predictive models. Instead of a human noticing the problem next Tuesday, the system predicts demand for next week based on seasonality and trend data. Step 3 — The Hand (Execution): The system acts without human intervention. A purchase order fires automatically. A workflow triggers. An alert routes to the right person. Step 4 — Calibration (Learning): The system checks the result and evaluates, did the vendor deliver? Did the intervention work? And most importantly it then updates the model for next time. This isn’t just automation. It’s a self-correcting organism. And it’s only possible because Pillars 1–3 built mature processes, reliable data, and clear role definitions required to trust a system to act on your behalf. By the time an organization reaches Level 6 on the Process Maturity Framework, the foundation for this kind of digital transformation is already in place. The Bottom Line The Data-First Doctrine isn’t about buying new technology or integrating the latest buzzword into operations. It’s about earning the right to use it. Stabilize your processes. Build a data structure that connects activity to outcomes. Put the right people in clearly defined roles. Then, and only then, wire it all together into a system that thinks, acts, and learns. Most organizations try to start at Pillar 4. They want the AI, the automation, the dashboards. But without the foundation, those investments underperform or outright fail. If you want to truly be data-driven, start with the foundation. The rest follows. Download Data-First Doctrine Here

Introduction A large higher education system undergoing organizational change needed to modernize how internal information was stored, accessed, and maintained . The university relied on an outdated internal shared drive with a confusing folder structure that made it difficult for staff, faculty, administrators, IT personnel, and service staff to locate departmental files and critical resources. This challenge was further compounded by the consolidation of four separate colleges into a single institution . Documents were scattered across multiple locations, stored inconsistently, and lacked a clear organizational framework. As a result, employees often struggled to determine where information lived, whether it was current, or which version was the source of truth. To address these challenges, Brewster Consulting Group designed and implemented a comprehensive SharePoint Communication Site that serves as a centralized, employee-facing intranet. This solution replaced the outdated folder structure with a clearly organized system of nearly 100 department pages, each structured by function and supported by dedicated document libraries. Importantly, this new intranet keeps internal materials separate from the university’s student-facing public website, ensuring clarity and proper access control. The Challenge The existing document management system exhibited several significant operational and usability challenges: Staff were unable to quickly find the documents and resources they needed. The lack of a consistent structure made searching time-consuming and frustrating, often requiring assistance from colleagues or IT. The existing system required significant maintenance and upkeep. The university and its IT department needed a simple, low-maintenance solution that would not require constant oversight or complex upkeep. Many folders contained severely outdated content, with some documents dating back as far as 2007–2012. Much of this content had not been properly archived or removed, making it difficult to determine what information was current and relevant. The existing system lacked effective search capabilities , leaving staff without an efficient way to search across departmental documents to quickly locate specific information. The Solution Brewster Consulting Group partnered with the university to design and build a comprehensive SharePoint-based intranet that addressed both immediate challenges and long-term sustainability. Key elements of the solution included: A SharePoint Communication Site architecture featuring a centralized hub homepage with streamlined navigation organized into six major functional areas: Academics, Administration, Campus Life, Governance, Forms, and Policies. Each functional area includes clearly defined sub-groups for intuitive navigation. The creation of nearly 100 individual department pages, organized by function, providing staff with a logical and consistent way to access departmental information. A centralized document library structure with dedicated sections for each department. Every department page links directly to its corresponding folder within the main document library, creating clear and intuitive pathways from department-level information to the underlying files. Standardized page templates designed for easy replication across departments. Each template includes consistent elements such as contact information, key personnel listings, and direct links to document libraries, ensuring a uniform experience across all pages. Implementation of SharePoint’s built-in site-wide search functionality, enabling keyword-based searches across all departmental documents so staff can quickly locate specific files. A system intentionally designed for simplicity and low maintenance, requiring fewer site administrators, offering straightforward update processes, and enabling template-based page creation without technical expertise. Comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures to document all aspects of site usage, including how to add new meetings, upload documents, manage archive status, adjust permissions, and maintain content. Live training sessions conducted with committee administrators to ensure they felt confident using, managing, and maintaining the system over the long term. The Results The new intranet delivered measurable improvements in usability, efficiency, and governance: Established a single source of truth with nearly 100 clearly organized department pages, replacing the confusing and outdated folder structure. Staff now know exactly where to find departmental information and can navigate by function rather than complex hierarchies. Eliminated guesswork around where specific types of information are stored, improving confidence and consistency in document usage. Enabled fast, site-wide keyword searches across all departments, significantly reducing the time staff spend searching for documents. Introduced a template-based approach that allows new department pages to be quickly replicated as organizational needs evolve. Delivered a scalable foundation capable of supporting future organizational changes without requiring major restructuring. Reduced the ongoing maintenance burden by limiting the number of site administrators and empowering non-technical staff to manage updates independently. Created a consistent structure and visual experience across all pages, resulting in a professional, cohesive intranet that is intuitive to navigate from day one. Conclusion By replacing an outdated and fragmented document system with a centralized, well-structured SharePoint intranet, Brewster Consulting Group helped the university improve operational efficiency, reduce frustration, and establish a sustainable foundation for future growth. The result is a modern, scalable internal platform that supports staff across the institution while remaining easy to manage and maintain.