Supply chain organizations have mastered the last mile delivery of physical goods to consumers – getting packages from warehouses to front doors with speed and precision. From Amazon to food delivery, most things people ‘need’ can be delivered with just a few clicks, or sometimes just one.  

Now consider the challenges these same individuals have getting information from the large, complex organizations for which they work.  It’s safe to say that the problem of last mile delivery of performance information has a long way to go. Despite massive investments in data collection and storage, decision-makers up and down organizations still struggle to access actionable insights at the point where decisions are being made and work is being done.  

The adage of “garbage in, garbage out” will be familiar to many. It is the notion that the value of the output is directly related to the quality of the inputs. This holds true for many organizations whose focus has been on improving the quality and volume of data capture, ensuring that what goes into databases is accurate and complete. However, this mindset neglects a crucial truth: even imperfect data can yield powerful insights when properly analyzed, contextualized, and designed for human consumption (Greenhalgh et al., 2017).  

High quality data alone does not guarantee high-quality decisions. Just as in supply chain management, value is added at each step before a product reaches the consumer. The same principle applies for information delivery. Raw data must go through transformation via analytics, integration, surfacing, and design before it becomes meaningful information for decision makers (Davenport & Harris, 2017). Presenting unprocessed data to decision-makers is like delivering unassembled parts instead of the finished product.

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Meeting Decision Makers Where They Are

In modern organizations, the vast majority of decision-makers do not operate exclusively in a control room or a boardroom. They don’t have the luxury of being surrounded by dashboards or being able to summon reports at a moment’s notice. Instead, decisions happen everywhere – on job sites, in offices, and increasingly in hybrid environments. To serve these leaders effectively, organizations must deliver relevant, timely and context-rich information directly to a variety of decision-makers at the point where decisions are being made (Arnold et al., 2023).

Consider this: approximately 80% of organizational data goes unused (Arnold et al., 2023). This staggering figure reflects an overemphasis on data capture and a lack of investment in analytics, integration, surfacing and information design. When information is fragmented across systems, teams waste valuable time piecing it together rather than acting on insights. This friction leads to relying on experience, circumventing processes or trial-and-error, all of which increases the likelihood of errors. In the consumer-centric supply chain world, friction leads to decreased sales. That is why those organizations work tirelessly to eradicate friction from user experience which begs the question: are industrial organizations doing the same for their decision-makers?  

Design thinking principles and advances in human-computer interaction show that when information is presented visually and contextually, individuals are more likely to interpret it consistently, improving interrater reliability (an academic term for people seeing the same thing and generally walking away with the same conclusion) and aligning across teams engaged in collective decision making (Arnold et al., 2023). The result is a shared understanding that promotes making better decisions faster.  

Perfection is the Enemy of Progress

A common objection made by organizations is that “our data is not good enough”. Waiting for perfect data is like waiting for the perfect market – by the time it arrives, the opportunity is gone. Decision makers already navigate imperfect systems daily. They improvise, cross-check, and work around inefficiencies to keep the company going. Perfecting data is costly, time-consuming and doesn't generate the ROI that initial assumptions predict.  

Instead of reorganizing data repositories, organizations should focus on eliminating the friction at the points where decisions are made. Throughout this process, the upstream data challenges will likely be addressed at the same time. Platforms like InterKnowlogy's Command Center or IK-CADDI can integrate data sources and deliver operational insights instantly – removing friction from the system and enabling people up and down the organization to make better decisions faster.  

Become a Last-Mile Leader

As a leader, your job is not to warehouse data; it is to deliver information that helps an organization learn and improve. Think of managing the last mile of information delivery within an organization. The goal is not more data, but better information delivery, ensuring that the right people get the right information at the right time to make the right decisions.  

What next?

Commanding performance is about surfacing real-time insights at the point where work happens, and decisions are being made. Learn how IK-CADDI equips mining and energy organizations to do exactly that.