Stop Worshipping Dashboards! Start Building Strategy.

When pretty charts fool you, but decisions vanish.

Author

Glenda Carnate
September 13, 2025

Read time: 2.5 minutes

We’ve all seen it: meetings where dashboards glow, bar charts dance across the screen, and Power BI looks like the star of the show. But when the lights dim, nothing changes.

The numbers back this up. A recent Harvard Business Review Analytic Services survey of 560 executives found that while 83% of companies say turning data into actionable insight is critical, only 22% believe they’re actually successful at it (Splunk, 2025).

That gap tells the real story. Companies are great at creating visuals, but far fewer are turning those visuals into decisions that matter.

What you really must do? (beyond dashboards)

  • Tie metrics to actions.
    Example: A “customer churn rate” graph means nothing unless it’s tied to retention strategies like targeted outreach or product improvements.

  • Use thresholds & alerts.
    Set triggers for when a metric passes a red line (e.g., sales pipeline drops below X). Automated alerts ensure action happens in real time, not just at the next meeting.

  • Cut dashboard clutter.
    Limit dashboards to 3–5 metrics that directly align with business goals. Too many charts = noise, not clarity.

  • Assign metric owners.
    Every key metric should have a person or team responsible for ensuring accuracy and taking action. No more “numbers on the wall” with no follow-up.

  • Add context to numbers.
    Pair visuals with annotations, market signals, or user feedback. A chart without a story invites misinterpretation.

Key Takeaways:

  • Dashboards ≠ decisions.

  • Fewer, smarter metrics drive action.

  • Accountability + context turn data into strategy.

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