Lumen Impact Group
Lumen Impact Group

The Long Game: Sustaining Data Collection for Lasting Insights

Published: August 21, 2024

By Cori Egan, Junior Partner

Like the rest of the world, I have been soaking up Paris Olympics coverage over the past few weeks and my most important takeaway is that champions are not made overnight. Whether it’s the relentless training of the gymnasts or the strategic plays of a water polo team, success is built on consistent effort and long-term planning. The same principle applies to data collection in your school or organization. Gathering data is not a one-time event; it requires sustained systems, processes, and routines over months and years to truly understand long-term trends and drive meaningful change.

The Long Game of Data Collection

Think of data collection as a marathon, not a sprint. Just as a marathon runner must train consistently, schools and organizations must collect data consistently. One year of data is like a single snapshot in an athlete’s career—it can tell part of the story, but it doesn’t capture the full picture. Consider Simone Biles’ heartbreaking Tokyo Olympics in 2021 where she dropped out of competition. That is certainly part of her story—and an important one for her own growth—but only looking at that one year would ignore the 11 medals she has won along with her world renown GOAT status. Long-term data collection allows you to see trends, successes, and areas for improvement over time, much like how an athlete tracks progress and adjusts their training regimen based on performance and their own goals and needs.

Building Systems and Processes

In the world of sports, teams rely on playbooks, strategies, and routines to achieve their goals. Similarly, your organization needs robust systems and processes for data collection. Whether you use an Excel sheet, a sophisticated data tracking application like Monday.com, or a CRM like Salesforce, having a structured approach is crucial. These tools help organize data, making it easier to analyze and interpret over time.

Establishing Norms and Routines

Just as a sports team practices regularly, your organization needs to establish norms around data collection. This includes consistent updates and tracking of performance

metrics year after year. By creating a routine, you ensure that data collection becomes an integral part of your organization’s culture, leading to more accurate and reliable insights.

The Power of Long-Term Trends

Data trends don’t lie. They provide valuable information about what is consistently working—or not—year after year. In the same way that a coach reviews past games and watches film to plan, analyzing long-term data helps your organization identify patterns, predict outcomes, and make informed decisions. This strategic approach enables you to address potential pitfalls and leverage successes to achieve your long-term goals.

Playing the long game in data collection is essential for understanding the true pulse of your school or organization. Like a dedicated athlete or a strategic sports team, your organization must commit to sustained effort and continuous improvement. By establishing systems, processes, and routines for data collection, you can gain deeper insights and drive lasting success.

Embrace the marathon of data collection and remember: the champions of data-driven decision-making are those who stay the course and play the long game.

Testimonials

"Lisa did a fantastic job with our entire strategic planning team. Her process was beyond organized. As a new administrator, I was able to lean on Lisa for her expertise and knowledge of strategic planning. She did everything from meeting organization and to facilitating subgroups, focus groups and staff culture surveys. Her work with the school board and administrative team was respectful, while also filled with appropriate advice and constructive feedback. I could not imagine going through this process without Lisa. She will continue to be a trusted resource for years to come."
Jamie DeWitt
School Leader, NexTech High School
"Lumen Impact Group has been critical in supporting Bluum’s efforts in Idaho to manage our $17.1 million federal Charter School Program grant. As one of the country’s first non-profit organizations to receive federal CSP funding, the stakes for our work are very high, and our efforts to help open, expand and replicate public charter schools face scrutiny. I sleep better knowing Lumen Impact Group has worked closely with us to build our processes, procedures and playbook for managing the responsibility of directing and overseeing a significant federal grant. I highly recommend them to others. They are true pros."
Terry Ryan
CEO, Bluum
"As a family-owned and operated company, we needed to preserve our culture and define our mission, vision and values better as we grew. Lumen Impact Group helped capture a variety of diverse perspectives and hopes for the future in a way that connected everyone involved. Lumen Impact Group helped us create a clear strategic focus and for our future stabilized our culture. Lisa also coached our leadership team in supporting implementation."
Mark Smith
President, Krapohl Ford & Lincoln
"Lisa Diaz and Lumen Impact provided invaluable support to Colorado Charter Facility Solutions during our start-up phase. I was the new non-profit organization’s executive director (and only employee at the time), and Lisa knew answers to questions that I did not even know to ask. She made sure the board of directors was set up correctly and that the organizational documents were in place. Lisa helped me establish the organization’s goals and ways to track progress. Lisa is organized, patient and kind, and worked quickly, thoroughly and collaboratively. She is a good listener and even acted as an executive coach/therapist at times. When necessary, Lisa can be direct, yet she is always focused on the goals of the organization and its success. I highly recommend Lisa Diaz and Lumen Impact Group. "
Jane Ellis
Executive Director, Colorado Charter Facility Solutions
"I have worked with Lumen Impact Group at both the individual and organizational level. As a coach, Lisa has a natural ability to get to the heart of the matter quickly and to ask questions that help her clients translate insight into action. Each team member who has worked with Lisa in a coaching capacity has demonstrated visible growth that has positively impacted individual and team performance. As an organization, we are trying to be purposeful about the culture we are creating, as a means of best fulfilling our mission. Lumen Impact Group has been a tremendous thought partner along the way and has facilitated critical steps in a collaborative yet efficient and fun way. Our team was in awe at how much we accomplished collectively in a short period of time. We are moving toward our ideal culture much more quickly than I thought possible, and I have no doubt it is because of Lumen Impact Group’s guidance. "
Kasey Miller
Chief of Staff, National Association of Charter School Authorizers