Signals: Insight Only Matters If It's Applied

This Signals newsletter edition — adapted for audio in the Next Practices feed — explores a common challenge across higher education: If insight is clear, why doesn't action follow? Institutions have more data and analytics than ever. But when insight doesn't move cleanly across teams and systems, it stalls — losing urgency, clarity, and impact. In this edition of Signals, we examine why the real breakdown isn't in the signal itself — it's in the handoff — and how institutions can close the gap between insight and action. Key ideas explored in this episode include: Why insight often stalls between teams and systems How "digital sprawl" fragments coordination across campuses The inability to carry data through to action The CLOSE operating model