Successful data governance requires replacing governance with diplomacy. This book is your guide to applying a lean and friendly yet proven approach to data governance and data design by leveraging your existing workforce, and allowing these data workers to create and sustain a data smart organization. Learn the diplomacy techniques and approach to align and unite the organization when facing challenges and taking on bold initiatives. Use a "getting things right from start" strategy for having the data correct enough to meet business needs. Become adept at facilitating business representatives to take responsibility to determine what the data should look like, what it should be called, and how it is connected. This book is primarily intended for CIO's, CDO's, chief architects, data strategists, data governance leads, and data architects. It is for anyone who is struggling with data quality, data accountability, and the concept of data as a valuable asset. It is for those who seek a second generation of data governance, when the first generation was riddled by formality or just did not take off. The book is written for those who are in the frontline of the quest for data improvement, and covers these four topics: Chapter 1 introduces the concept of data diplomacy and illustrates it through a set of real-life cases where diplomacy played a crucial part. Chapter 2 covers the four arenas for performing diplomatic data governance and describes the activities that go on in each arena. Chapter 3 details the minimum set of roles that are needed when instituting data governance using a diplomatic approach. Chapter 4 is your toolbox as the data diplomat, containing various tips and techniques including the "Five Running Guys".