The Risk Creator Paradox (Your "Shadow IT" is Creating All the Value)
The Problem
IT calls them "risk creators." Those business analysts with crazy Excel macros. VBA wizards. VLOOKUP masters building their own reports because IT takes 6 weeks. IT leadership says "they're creating risk—undocumented code, wrong data sources, no version control!" So you try to shut them down. Force everything through IT. And guess what happens? Business value drops 40%. Why? Because those "risk creators" were the only ones actually solving business problems quickly. They were working around a broken system, not creating the problem. You just eliminated your most productive people because they didn't follow the rules.
The Principle
Flip the narrative. Those Excel power users aren't risk creators—they're value creators who lack proper tools. Instead of shutting them down, enable them. Give them governed data models. Train them on...
Action Steps
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