Thoughtworks

Leading services in Europe regarding data strategy, data & AI governance, AI transformation and related areas

Principal Data Consultant | Data Strategy & Data Governance Lead

DAMA Germany

Lead marketing planning, execution and monitoring to grow and engage the community and to establish thought leadership and knowledge exchange in all things Data Management & Data Governance in Germany.

Head of Marketing

DataQG

DataQG is the leading data governance network platform for organizations and professionals.

Ambassador

adidas

Ensuring product data is consistent, accurate and available and making sure it’s used in a secure and meaningful way. We govern product data end to end, from data creation through data processing all the way to data usage and enrichment.

Senior Director, Product Data Governance

Lead in Social, PR and Voice of Consumer Analytics to integrate Consumer Insights from Social Media, PR, Search Behavior, Product Reviews and Experience NPS feedback into any decision-making in brand strategy, campaign planning and in-activation optimization.

Director, Digital Analytics - Social, PR & Voice of the Consumer

Lead in Voice of the Consumer Analytics with focus on integrated insights based on consumer feedback across digital channels (e.g. Digital Brand Perception on Social Media, Product Ratings / Reviews on Website, Search Behaviour on Google)

Director, Digital Analytics - Voice of the Consumer

Creation of Digital Marketing Performance KPI Framework to measure success within branding activities and consumer perception on strategic and operational level

Lead standardisation and alignment of eCom KPI definitions and reporting methodology across Digital Analytics, BI/Finance, Markets and Business Units

Governance of holistic eCom business performance KPI framework across digital and financial teams

Senior Manager, Digital Analytics

TD Reply

Project Manager of projects in Digital Strategy & Performance Optimization

adidas: On-site Project Manager and Product Owner of KPI Frameworks and Dashboard Visualizations at Digital Brand Commerce

Miele: Account Management of International Brand Marketing and coordination with over 10 markets

Support in Digital Performance Management projects of Coca Cola, Volkswagen and Döhler

Knowledge Management & Advisory between German and Chinese Office

Senior Consultant

Lead of projects in Digital Strategy & Market Research

Key account manager of VW brand marketing

Development of Social Media strategies

Setting up processes and guidelines for crisis management

Consultant

Junior Consultant / Master Thesis

Student Worker

Berlin Institute of Technology (Technische Universität Berlin)

Analysis of business models and market analysis of various industries

Research Assistant - Chair of Strategic Leadership & Global Management

I’m a data leader by day, a musician at night, and an optimist at heart. 

After 10+ years in data analytics, data governance, consumer insights and digital transformation, I grew fond of the human aspect of data - how to communicate, collaborate and get creative around data. 

My passion lies in making data more approachable and fun, and I often use unconventional methods to do so - with music, humor or other creative outlets. 

Nice to meet you! 
Let’s have a (virtual) coffee?

Finding the balance between centralizing and decentralizing data responsibilities can be really tricky.

You learn from the disadvantages of one approach and experience new ones as soon as you go the other direction.

Centralizing too much leads to bottleneck situations and missing domain expertise.

Decentralizing too much leads to additional coordination and harmonization efforts.

No matter what you choose, there’s always a trade off.

The question is only which trade off is the most acceptable - based on your data management and capability maturity and company culture.

Let me know if you need some help!

#datastrategy #operatingmodel #tiankaistuff

Tiankai Feng

The best way to get stakeholder buy-in for data governance is to solve actual data problems. 

Getting ready for potential risks in the future is important too, but it’s a challenge to expect stakeholders to believe in something that hasn’t proven the ability to solve issues yet. 

The more problems are solved and the value is communicated, the more you can shift from reactive issue remediation to proactive risk avoidance. 

The only way to turn skeptics into believers is to make the impact undeniable. 

Let me know if you need some help. 

#datagovernance #problemsolving #tiankaistuff

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Growing up being “different” because of my ethnic background taught me very early in my life about the importance of leaving a good first impression. 

The thing is: you are always leaving a first impression somewhere - and if you don’t do it intentionally, then the people you interact with will do it through their own perception and experiences, for better or worse. 

For me being intentional about the first impression includes an energetic “hello”, a warm smile, a firm handshake and a genuine care about what the other person says - it works most of the time (there are always grumpy people somewhere).

Now imagine stakeholders interacting with data for the first time - shouldn’t the data leave a great first impression too? 

Don’t just make data available, make it also easy and intuitive to interact with, just like getting to know a person for the first time.

#dataculture #dataliteracy #tiankaistuff

Architecture has always been the intersection between art and science, and in business it‘s taken the intersection between business and tech. 

My friend Mohammed Brueckner wrote a great book titled “IT‘s not magic, it’s architecture” that addresses that topic very nicely - on a conceptual and very practical level. 

This also marks the first time I was asked to write a foreword, and I’m very glad that it’s for this excellent book! 

No matter if it’s data or IT architecture, it’s always a great bridge between the business and the technical side. 

#book #itarchitecture #tiankaistuff

Is it even a real meeting if we don’t ask if people can hear us or see our screens?! 

Anyway, I made this Adele parody during COVID times and can’t believe that everything about this still holds up. 

Happy meetings, everyone! 

#meetings #zoom #tiankaistuff

“So, a Data Pool is a great analogy for data-as-a-product since both data and water flows, it has to meet certain requirements, it’s regularly cleaned and maintained and somebody makes sure there’s no unsafe or uncompliant behavior.” 

“Dad, can we just go back to practice swimming, please?” 

Alright, that conversation never happened. 

In fact, during most of the last two weeks I barely thought about work at all, so I say it was a great vacation! 

Did I miss anything while I was gone?

#dataproducts #mentalhealth #tiankaistuff

Trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. 

This is why managing data trustworthiness can be hard, but we can’t afford not to.

Because without the human perception of data being trustworthy, the intrinsic instinct is to not use it - and it becomes an obstacle to drive value through data. 

Here are some ways how to manage data trustworthiness: 

🙋‍♀️ Regularly check in with data consumers on how much they trust data, and why 

🖥️ Monitor data quality and data observability and share results wide and far

🔍 Be transparent and timely about data issues and what actions are taken to mitigate them 

💬 Amplify advocacy by letting data consumers communicate their satisfaction with the data and how it’s bringing value 

We can turn the relationship between data consumers and trustworthy data into the greatest love story ever told - metaphorically and maybe thanks to AI literally?! 

#datagovernance #dataquality #tiankaistuff

“You are more than your job.”

It’s the best career advice I ever got, and it holds up to this day. 

Not only because I can use the reminder to define my selfworth with more than my work - I am very passionate about my job after all. 

It also lead me to think about the next question: What else am I?

Figuring the answer out everyday not only makes me feel more balanced, I also now find ways to apply my life experiences to make me a better professional. 

Win-win. You can give it a try too. 

#careeradvice #inspiration #tiankaistuff

Great audience and very interesting other talks at the ADV AUSTRIAN DIGITAL VALUE data excellence conference in Vienna today!

Always happy when people feel heard, seen and inspired when I talk about the challenges and approaches around the human side of data governance. 

Loved also the great talks by Nicola Askham, Dr. Irina Steenbeek, Karen Gaertner and Frank Pörschmann as moderator, and excited about tomorrows keynote by Peter Aiken and a talk by Christian Fuerber! 

#datagovernance #dataexcellence #tiankaistuff

“If it weren’t for you, I would have quit three times already. Whenever I was frustrated, I just looked at your content and I was motivated to keep going.”

This is the unprompted feedback I received at a conference this week, and it’s one of the main reasons why I love what I do. 

Business impact is great, but making other people happier and more inspired is even better.

Thanks for the feedback (you know who you are), it made my whole week! 

#feedback #datagovernance #tiankaistuff

Guess who I met for dinner in last night?! 

Hanging out with Peter Aiken, Nicola Askham, Karen Gaertner and Frank Pörschmann was the perfect warm up for attending the ADV AUSTRIAN DIGITAL VALUE Data Excellence conference today! 

Plus, it was nice to have DAMA International, DAMA Germany and DAMA UK representatives coming together to share insights and funny stories about the world of data. 

Can’t wait to see everyone’s talks today at the conference! 

#datamanagement #networking #tiankaistuff

Dear sales reps,

Please don’t ask for a career advice meeting and then ambush me with a sales pitch. 

I won’t buy anything from someone who lied to me, and now you created more skepticism about those who genuinely want some career advice. 

Yours truly, 
Someone who tries to stay supportive after being ambushed three times

#linkedin #sales #tiankaistuff

When an email conversation gets heated and you still don’t want to clarify it in a meeting: 





Some emails would actually benefit from being meetings. Not only to resolve a conflict faster, but also to realize any misunderstandings, such as confusing attitudes with writing styles. 

Human beings love to interpret things based on their experiences, but we should try to be on the same page about what people say AND what people mean. 

#communication #emails #tiankaistuff

True collaboration is built on trusted relationships, not transactions. 

People have been working together since the beginning of human kind, but we have found ways to artificially limit that through rewarding individual claims of impact, and not actual collaborative impact. 

Cross-functional collaboration should bring worlds together, not pushing them further apart. Let’s make an open effort to collaborate more. 

📸: Marketoonist 

#collaboration #teamwork #tiankaistuff

Ich war wieder Gast beim MY DATA IS BETTER THAN YOURS Podcast!

Diesmal habe ich mit Jonas Rashedi darüber gesprochen, wie man das Thema Data kreativ nahbarer machen kann, und wie wichtig Kommunikation und Positionierung insbesondere bei Data Governance ist, um den existierenden Missverständnissen und negativen Assoziationen zu dem Begriff vorzubeugen.

Ich bin fest davon überzeugt, dass Data Governance wichtig ist und ernst zu nehmen ist, aber das heißt nicht, dass wir dabei keinen Spaß haben dürfen 😁 

Danke, dass ich wieder dabei sein durfte! 

Link zur Episode in den Kommentaren.

#podcast #datagovernance #tiankaistuff

"If data is the force, then we're the Jedi council"

This is how I brought my passion for Data Governance and Star wars together in my song "GOVERNORS OF DATA". 

Fast forward a few years later, and I have the unbelievable opportunity to give a webinar on data governance in the theme of - you guessed it - Star Wars, just ahead of Star Wars day!

Thanks to MetaRouter for that opportunity and to Michele Nieberding 🚀 for being such an amazing collaborator on this!

May the force be with you - sign up via link in the comments.

#webinar #datagovernance #tiankaistuff

When you just can't convince your colleagues to adopt the new tool:




One of the main challenges of rolling out a solution is that we focus more on instructions (“how”) and less on motivation (“why”).

Solutions (as the name indicates) are there to solve problems, and that should be the prominent reason for adopting any new tool.

If this tool is solving the problems of the adopting team, then great - communicate that clearly and strongly!

If this tool is solving someone else’s problems, then start with those teams and let them create advocacy for the new tool from a relatable point of view .

If this tool is not clearly solving anyone’s problems, then … you probably already know that rolling this out was a bad decision in the first place.

Any great solution starts with clear problem statements and requirements, and any solution that doesn’t solve problems isn’t really a solution.

#technology #changemanagement #tiankaistuff

I might use this sign for future meetings. 

The great thing about this sign is that it works as hypothesis, as prediction or as prescription. 

Also it’s not specified if it’s tears of joy, tears of exhaustion or tears of sadness. 

So really it’s universally applicable 😁

Have a great weekend, all! 

#humor #meetings #tiankaistuff

What?! I surpassed 200k views on my YouTube channel. 

I’ve never treated my channel more than just a repository for my silly music videos, so this really is a nice surprise. 

If you are in interested in original songs and musical parodies about data, work etiquette, home office, and other topics - you’re welcome to visit! 

Thanks for all the love for my music over the last years, I appreciate you all! 

I know I’ve been not posting new music videos as frequently as before, but I promise I have channeled my creative energy to something big - more on that later this year. 

Plus, there’s a new music video coming tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Link to channel in comments.

#youtube #music #tiankaistuff

graphical user interface, text, application

If you ever wondered how an 80s summer hit that’s both catchy and educational about data quality would sound like - look no further! 

Who would have thought that data quality can be used to describe romance and love?! 

Which one is your favorite reference to data quality and data governance in this song?

Music is really a great medium to make topics more memorable and relatable, and for me making music is really therapeutic and helps me structure my thoughts. Win win. 

Link to YouTube in the comments. 

#dataquality #music #tiankaistuff

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