Managers: Don't Ask for 'More Dashboards.' Ask for Specific Problems' Answers and Insights.
- Maria Alice Maia
- Aug 26, 2024
- 3 min read
To my fellow executives and managers: Stop asking your data team for more dashboards.
I mean it. It’s one of the most common requests I’ve seen in my career, from leading BI and People Analytics at Ambev to structuring new business intelligence practices at Alura and Grupo Águia. It seems like a productive, data-driven thing to ask for.
In reality, it’s often the fastest way to get nothing done.
This is the most classic form of "Kindergarten Data": you ask for a tool without defining the problem. The result? A "dashboard graveyard." Your team spends weeks building a beautiful, complex dashboard with 50 filters. You look at it, get overwhelmed by charts and numbers that don't lead to a clear decision, and after two weeks, you stop opening it.
The data team is frustrated. You’re disappointed. And a massive amount of time and money has been wasted creating a useless digital artifact.
There is a better way. It’s a simple but profound shift in how you ask.
The Wrong Way (Tool-First): "I need a sales performance dashboard with data on region, product, and rep."
This request is a black hole. It has no objective. It forces your data team to guess what you care about. They will give you everything, which means they will give you nothing of value.
The Right Way (Problem-First): "I have a business problem. Our sales cycle for enterprise clients has increased by 15% this quarter, costing us an estimated $500k in delayed revenue. I need to know why. Is this slowdown happening at a specific stage in the pipeline? Is it concentrated with a few reps? Is it linked to a recent product update? We need to answer this in the next two weeks so we can design a targeted intervention."
See the difference?
The first is a request for a thing. The second is a request for an answer.
When you lead with the problem, you transform the entire dynamic.
It forces you to think. You have to clarify the business pain, the potential impact, and the decision you want to make.
It empowers your data team. They are no longer report builders; they are problem-solvers. They can choose the right method—maybe a one-time deep-dive analysis is better than a dashboard. Maybe a simple, one-page report is all that's needed. They are unleashed to deliver an actual insight.
The outcome is an action, not an artifact. You get a recommendation, a set of hypotheses to test, a path forward. You get real ROI from your analytics investment.
As a leader, your most important job in data strategy is to ask sharp, specific, problem-oriented questions. As a data professional, your job is to demand them. When a manager asks for a dashboard, your first response must be: "I can definitely help with that. What specific business problem are we trying to solve or what decision are we trying to make?"
This dialogue is the foundation of a data-driven culture. And it's my mission to help companies learn how to have it. This knowledge isn't mine to keep.
If you’re ready to stop building dashboard graveyards and start generating real value from your data, join my movement. Subscribe to my email list for more no-nonsense insights.
And if you’re currently drowning in dashboards and starving for answers, book a 20-minute, no-nonsense consultation with me. Let’s define the right question together.
