When Data-Driven Means Dashboard-Driven
Watching metrics isn't the same as understanding outcomes
“We’re data-driven” usually means “we have dashboards.”
Teams gather around screens showing metrics going up and to the right. Everyone nods. The meeting ends. Nothing changes.
The dashboard becomes the destination instead of the starting point. Watching numbers feels like the job at times and seeing green feels like success. However, dashboards show what’s easy to measure, not necessarily what matters. Pageviews and feature clicks. Activity, not outcomes.
Try this: pick any metric on your dashboard and ask, “If this number doubled tomorrow, would anything outside these walls actually change?”
- Would the problem you’re supposedly solving get solved faster?
- Would customers notice?
The silence after that question is usually telling.
Being data-driven was supposed to mean making better decisions, but somewhere along the way it became making decisions that have numbers attached, which isn’t the same thing at all.
The next time someone celebrates a metric, ask what decision it changed. If nobody can answer, you might be dashboard-driven instead.
Related reading: If this resonates, I’ve previously written about building analytics strategies that actually deliver value and the related problem of confusing internal quality with customer validation.
