(US and Canada) Garrett Berntsen, Deputy Chief Data Officer of the U.S. Department of State, speaks with John Filipek, Federal – Inside Sales Director, SHI International Corp., in a video interview about his role and responsibilities, CDOs’ key characteristics, the importance of collaboration, and influencing the adoption of data-driven decision making among key decision makers.

As part of Berntsen’s work for the U.S. Department of State, he has been developing a data program to bring evidence-based policy making to diplomacy. He was previously an analytics consultant and in the military. Berntsen says he collaborates with the broader CDO community and the CDO Council to solve problems.

Berntsen notes the team enjoys tackling difficult problems but stresses that people can only overcome some of the toughest challenges. He adds that it is important to get incremental success followed by constant communication and expectations management.

He highlights characteristics that distinguish the Department of State from other agencies, including:

• Optimism
• Resilience
• An entrepreneurial approach

Berntsen explains that the department identifies those characteristics in new talent by:

• Expanding the network and meeting people outside the organization.
• Cultivating the brand and reputation of an office that is doing things differently.
• Using diverse networks to attract diverse communities of employees and reach out to them in various ways.
• Utilizing the Subject Matter Expert Qualification Assessment (SME QA) for skills-based hiring

Additionally, Berntsen mentions framing conversations with other departments’ leaders to help them understand the importance of adopting newer decision-making methods. That can be challenging because people who have been working the same way for decades typically resist change. Ideally, Berntsen says, one should combine gut instinct with data-driven decision-making.

CDO Magazine appreciates Garrett Berntsen for sharing his insights and data success stories with our global community.