A dashboard can show what’s happening. It can even tell you when it happened. But it cannot always tell you whether what’s happening is worth doing.
“We’re tracking everything… but what exactly are we trying to change?” A well-known insurance company proudly showcased over 200 real-time metrics. But when asked which ones impacted business decisions, the room fell silent.
The team was optimizing responsiveness, volume, and closure rates. But none of those indicators reflected whether customer satisfaction had improved, or if costs were declining.
After a painful misstep—where one regional team hit every dashboard goal while losing clients, the leadership team paused. They realized: activity had replaced progress. They redefined their metrics around a new question: “What does success feel like—not just look like?” The dashboard became a support tool, not a scoreboard.
Public-Facing vs. Executive-Facing Dashboards
Public-Facing Dashboards:
- Often driven by optics: social media reach, website visits, event attendance.
- These metrics look impressive but rarely indicate strategic impact.
Executive-Facing Dashboards:
- Should be designed to answer real business questions:
- How many of those leads turned into clients?
- What percentage of projects came in under budget?
- Did customer satisfaction rise after implementing X initiative?
- Metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS), Cost per Customer Retention, and Project Delivery Accuracy are stronger indicators.
Core Principles
- Dashboards can become traps if they don’t reflect real outcomes.
- Leaders often overestimate control when they over-quantify visibility.
Reflective Survey
Pause and assess your clarity amidst the metrics.