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:
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.
