Most Dashboards Waste the CEO’s Time! (And Power BI is No Exception.)

Read time: 2.5 minutes

1. Dashboard Over-Reliance:

📊 67% of executives fear missing key opportunities because they lean too heavily on dashboards. (TheyDo, 2024)
💡 Fix: Dashboards should inform, not replace strategic judgment.

2. Too Many Numbers:

⏱️ 57% of executives say they have less time to make critical decisions. (Technology Magazine, 2024)
💡 Fix: Cut the noise. Limit dashboards to 3–5 metrics that drive the most significant impact.

3. Too Much Design:

💸 Bad reporting, poor data quality, and overcomplicated designs cost businesses an average of $12.9M every year. (Funnel, 2025)
💡 Fix: Keep visuals clean and intuitive. Simple charts > flashy gimmicks.

4. Too Little Value:

📉 70% of analytics initiatives fail due to poor adoption and misaligned business needs. (MoldStud, 2025)
💡 Fix: Every metric must tie back to growth, cost, or risk. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t belong.

5. What Executives Actually Want in Power BI:

📊 Real-time dashboards improve decision-making speed by 20%. (Livelytics, 2025)

Executives need dashboards that answer 3 simple questions:

• Where are we now? → headline KPIs (revenue, profit, retention)

• Where are we headed? → trends + forecasts

• What must we do next? → actions tied directly to insights

Key Takeaways:

• Dashboards must support judgment, not replace it.

• Less is more: 3–5 KPIs > 50 cluttered metrics.

• Clean design saves money; complex design wastes it.

• Metrics must connect to growth, cost, or risk.

• The best dashboards answer 3 questions: now, next, action.

CEOs already lose 40% of their time to inefficient meetings and admin. (PwC, 2024)
Dashboards shouldn’t exacerbate the problem; they should alleviate it.