5 Brutal Truths New Leaders Discover About Power BI Every January

Read time: 2.5 minutes

5 Harsh Realities Leaders Face About Power BI Each January:

1. Most Power BI Reports Were Created for Executive Team Members Who Are No Longer at Your Organization.

The PBIX file is the same, but the questions being asked are not relevant. Decisions, once made, no longer exist using the old logic (the one that created the report).
Solution: Every Power BI report created must have a direct connection back to an active leadership decision... if it doesn't, archive it.

2. Measures Without Action Become Just Edited Visuals.

DAX functionality provides insight into movement, not meaning.
Solution: Create a Decision Text Box on every Executive (or leadership) page that states; "If this KPI changes, leadership will take action by ___"

3. Reorganizations Cause Data Owners to Lose Control Over Their Datasets From the Start of the Reorganization.

When you accepted ownership of reports, you did not accept accountability.
Solution: Assign one owner per dataset and align the data owner to the new organizational chart, not by individual report.

4. Slicers Can Change The Meaning Of Datasets Without Notification.

Slicers may look harmless... however, they are not.
Solution: Label slicers that will change logic or disable them for Executive Reports completely.

5. Legacy Power BI Will Not Crash, But Will Gradually Cause Decisions To Be Delayed.

If executive leadership hesitates to make a decision, the report has already failed. Solution: Conduct a Power BI Kill Review in January for the following:
• Is it still trusted?
• Are they still being used?
All reports that do not pass the Kill Review will be unpublished.

💡Key Takeaway: 

If the reports in Power BI do not help executive decision-making at this time, then they are no longer useful. Reports that delay decision-making are more detrimental to the organization than if the reports did not exist.