KlipBlog / September 2010.

Sep 20, 2010, by Allan Wille

The philosophical answer might surprise you. It’s not SAP's Business Objects, Corda, Klipfolio or Cognos. The most influential real-time dashboard has existed for a long time. We might tell you how long it has existed by using one: a timekeeping device. The idea, definition, measurement and communication of time have become the world’s most influential real-time dashboard. What are the criteria for achieving this prestigious title? Here are the top four ways I measure a dashboard’s influence in declining order of importance:

1. Immense value: How critical is the need to measure and communicate data? Ask this ruthless question when determining what needs to be measured for your job, team or organization. Knowing what time it is, and knowing it in real-time is immensely valuable for everything from simple scheduling to more sophisticated measures over time.
2. Profound simplicity: Does the measurement require training or is it possible to understand the data at first glance? Without these two elements – a simple concept, presented clearly – it’s an uphill battle to achieve understanding and influence. The importance of time is so profound that the limited training that is required to read and understand a timepiece at a glance is baked into elementary school curriculums for young children the world over.
3. Standardization and truth: Can you trust the data you’re looking at? This is a major challenge for organizations both large and small. First of all, is there a common language and conceptual understanding about the metric or indicator? Once that’s in place, a thorough understanding of the data and the processes by which the data is consolidated, cleaned and presented helps to weed out data quality problems.
4. Universal applicability: This last point almost did not make the list, however influence correlated so strongly with broad reach, that it’s an important lesson. In fact and argument exists, that until a critical mass of users adopt a measure, it has relatively little value. This is also related to something we believe in at Klipfolio: data democracy or performance culture. Imagine a world where only the rich had access to timekeeping devices. They would have an advantage over the peasants. Is this the way you want your organization to run? In fact, until a critical mass of users adopts a measure, it has relatively little value.

Timepieces, sundials, watches and clocks have a profound impact on the efficiency of our society. It’s overwhelming when you think about it – a world that has adopted this de-facto standard, and has proceeded to measure it in real-time, embed it into the everyday, make it mobile etc. As a result, someone you’ve never met, half a world away, and with whom you may not share a common language, can arrange a meeting with you at a precise time.

Tempus fugit, and "what's measured gets managed".

If you’re intrigued, take a look at the impressive Wikipedia listing for timekeeping devices: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_timekeeping_devices.

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Sep 01, 2010, by Allan Wille

I participated on a DM Radio panel a few weeks ago – they’re always fun, informal, and a great way to share and debate insightful ideas. One of the participants was Marko Muellner, who is VP Marketing at WebTrends. I mention this because he highlighted a common phenomenon in the context of reporting and marketing departments; a frantic need to engineer and share positive performance metrics.

However, it’s far from just a marketing thing. Selective analytics, and only sharing “up and to the right” metrics that suggest a job well done, is a perilous yet common tactic in some companies. And I think we can all see and recognize the pressures that lead to this behaviour. However, failures, unexpected results and fluctuations are just as important to track, and then learn from. There is an answer to everything. And once you have the answer, it’s a lot easier to face colleagues with metrics that are less than optimal.

Here are some pointers when working with real-world charts, KPIs and other data points:

• Do you trust your data? If not, addressing this should be your key priority.
  
• Are you looking at seasonal variations?
  
• Is this expected or planned movement?
• Do you have a rogue data point that can and should be ignored?
• Is your data naturally volatile, and are you analyzing your data over too short a time-period?

Just as with any “white lie”, the truth eventually surfaces. So a note of caution to those of you who are committed to this “up and to the right” model. Data in today’s enterprise environment is so accessible and intertwined, that if your numbers don’t mesh with someone else’s numbers and analysis, questions will pop up. And this is a good thing. At the end of the day, don’t you too want to know why the charts you’re not sharing (yes, those that also go to the right, but down) are trending this way?

Who knows, sharing these volatile real-world charts now, might help your future charts to truly all trend up and to the right!

Good luck, and don’t fake it. You’ll be found out.

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