'Single source of truth' – or shared access to master data?

You can have a single source of data. You can agree on where the master records live. You can make sure everyone’s working from the same numbers.

That’s useful. Necessary, even.

But when businesses talk about a “single source of the truth’?

Truth is not data.

Truth is interpretation.

Truth is context.

It’s what people do with the data once they have it.

A number that signals success to one person might signal pressure to another. The same KPI might drive clarity in one team – and fear in another.

Truth, in human systems, is relational. It depends on where you sit, what you’re measured by and what stories you’ve been told.

Seeking the truth in business change is a fruitless exercise. Listening and responding to what people say – and infer – is where the value lies.

Data can open the conversation.

But meaning is made in the dialogue.