The Urge to Over-Engineer Power BI (And Why It’s Slowing You Down)

Here’s a simple truth: trying to make everything perfect is actually slowing down your best work.

Author

Glenda Carnate
November 28, 2025

Read time: 2.5 minutes

If you’ve ever spent a whole day defending your data model from someone who wants to connect every table to every other table, this is for you.

One data team spent four intense hours building what they thought was the perfect star schema... clean, elegant, and defensible. After four hours, the team was still going, but now they had to deal with coworkers saying, “Can’t we just connect every table to every other table? It’s easier.”

By 10 p.m., the model was still holding up, but the team’s energy was gone.

But here’s the twist: the problem wasn’t the schema itself, but the mindset behind it.

Practical Ways To Fix The ‘Perfect Model’ Problem:

1. Set a “90% Rule.”
If it works, scales for the next 90 days, and solves the core question, then ship it. Perfect can come later.

2. Add a “No Debate After Decision” agreement.
Once the model is approved, conversations shift to usage... not reinvention.

3. Set a “Two-Join Limit” guideline.
If someone needs more than two joins, schedule a design review instead of making quick changes to the schema.

4. Use versioned models.
First, release Model v1.
Then, improve it with Model v2.
Model v∞ never gets released, because nobody actually needs it.

5. Show value early.
A simple dashboard that people use today is better than a perfect setup that no one ever uses.

💡Key Takeaway: 

The drive to engineer everything is impressive, but today’s real advantage goes to those who ship quickly, keep things simple, and focus on what really matters.

👉 LIKE if you’ve ever built something elegant… only to watch someone try to duct-tape five random tables onto it.

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