Glossary · Processes & structure
Single source of truth
One place where the correct version of the data is kept.
A single source of truth is one place where the correct version of a piece of data is kept. Everyone who needs it looks at that same source, so there is no doubt about which version is right. That way the whole company works from the same figures.
The opposite is familiar: the same information lives in five places, in as many Excel files and mailboxes, and nobody knows any more which one is the latest. That costs time and leads to decisions based on outdated or contradictory data.
Appointing one source is partly a matter of technology and partly a matter of agreement. The system has to be the shared place, and your people have to fetch and update their data there instead of keeping their own copy alongside it.
