How to turn dashboards into decisions
Most dashboards tell you what has happened. Few help you decide what to do next. The difference lies in how they are used, not how they are built. A good decision starts with a question, not a chart. Teams that make data work for them treat dashboards as prompts for discussion, not as scoreboards. The value of data is unlocked when the people in the room agree on what action to take, not when the report looks beautiful.
Joseph Vassie
10/15/20251 min read
Most dashboards tell you what happened. Very few tell you what to do next. That is the problem.
A good dashboard starts with a question. What are we trying to learn? What action might we take? Without a question, you only have decoration.
Keep it simple. One view should point to one story. If you need to explain it, it is too complicated. The best dashboards make the next step obvious.
Talk about the numbers. Ask why they matter. Ask what they change. The conversation is where insight becomes decision.
Use them live. Open them in meetings. Let people challenge what they see. A dashboard is not a report to be filed; it is a tool to shape what happens next.
Finish with a choice. What will we stop doing? What will we do more of? What needs to change now? Without that step, you are not making decisions, you are just looking at pictures.
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