As you package together these hacks, be sure to include this final hack. It's critical-and, surprisingly, often overlooked.

Hack No. 4: Trust is the Key to Success

The final consideration for proactive change is building trust by sharing data that shows you're listening. This is worth repeating.Build trust by sharing data.

Let me explain why. Any time you move away from reactive thinking, it requires people to actually trust the data and to rely on that information. I'll discuss this more in an upcoming blog, but, for now, know that you have tobegin investing time in informing your listening infrastructureso that you can be part of the communication.

This will help in two ways:

1. You'll better understand why you believe an event might happen.
2. You'll help your sources trust that you're addressing their needs.

In late 2016, Forbes released its annual Prophet Brand Relevance Index that showed a 50 point increase for Google. From No. 55 to No. 5.

Google soared through the charts as they significantly improved consumer trust through new releases, their Android brand, and fewer concerns with data and privacy breaches. Then, through innovations such as the Pixel Phone and driverless cars, Google was able to proactively act on insights that made them a trustworthy brand.

Build Trust Now

Building trust is about clear, frequent communication that drives your sources to make choices that will offer you greater insights. Here again, you can start simple. Consider areas that you've been given constructive criticism before. Write them down and see if there are cost-effective, easy solutions that you can implement immediately. This will tell others you're listening and adapting. This will open the door for more dialogue in the future.

Real time is often too late because you are reacting to the insight.

Let's review. To successfully navigate your digital journey, take the following data-driven hacks:

1. Create the process and gain a deeper understanding of it.
2. Dynamically access talent to access data from an expert perspective from outside of your organization.
3. Purposefully construct a listening infrastructure to diversify data used in making decisions.
4. Build trust through data sharing.

Meanwhile, stop reading from your PowerPoint presentations, and start bringing your insights into play. Inform yourself, and you can make informed decisions that will satisfy customers, fulfill your goals, and provide your next innovation.

I'm ready to listen to your input. Share your comments below.