Dashboard Blindness

𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠?

In organizations, we often pay attention to what the dashboard tells us.

𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.

𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴.

𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴.

𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴.

𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘴.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

But one pattern we’ve noticed is that 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

A dashboard can tell us what changed. It may not tell us what people had to absorb to keep the numbers looking steady.

Sometimes the metrics look clean because things are healthy. Other times they look clean because people are adapting quietly underneath the surface.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴.

𝘈𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.

𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺.

𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦.

From a distance, those realities can look remarkably similar. That’s why human observation matters.

- The conversations people are having.

- The questions that stop being asked.

- The caution in how people speak.

The difference between what the data shows and 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬. Measurement helps. But visibility goes 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

Because before something becomes a metric, someone has often already noticed it.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉?