Data Overload vs. Data-Driven: Is Your Strategy Thriving or Drowning?

A few years ago, I walked into a meeting where a senior leader was frustrated.?“We have all these dashboards, but I still don’t have the answer I need.”

We had?thousands?of dashboards—literally. Every department, every request, every new KPI had turned into another dashboard. Yet, instead of clarity, we had?confusion.

So I asked a simple question:?“Which dashboard do you trust?” Silence.

That was the moment I realized:?More dashboards ≠ More insights.?In fact, the opposite was true. We were drowning in reports, but decision-making wasn’t improving.

Here’s what I learned (the hard way) about?breaking free from dashboard overload:

1) Dashboards Without a Purpose Are Just Noise

Too often, dashboards get built because someone says,?“We might need it.”?But if no one is making decisions based on it, what’s the point?

Now, before we build anything, I ask:

• Who will use this?
• What decision will this impact?
• How often will it be checked?

If the answers are unclear,?we don’t build it.

2) The Data Warehouse is Your Source of Truth—Not Your Dashboards

We had?different dashboards showing the same KPI with different numbers.?Why? Because the business logic lived inside the dashboards, not in the data warehouse.

Now, we model business rules at the?data warehouse level,?so no matter where you look—SQL, Google Sheets, or BI tools—the numbers stay?consistent.

3) Not Every Question Needs a Dashboard

Some insights are?one-time questions?and don’t need a permanent home. Instead of adding to dashboard clutter, we handle these through:

• Exploratory analysis in Google Sheets
• ?Simple automated reports
• ?Ad-hoc SQL queries

If a question keeps coming up? Then,?and only then,?does it earn a dashboard.

4) Start Small, Scale Smart

I’ve seen teams spend months building?the ultimate dashboard—only for no one to use it. Instead, we now test solutions in?small iterations, get feedback, and?only scale when it’s driving real value.

5) The Real Goal? Actionable Insights, Not Vanity Metrics

Today, we don’t chase?more dashboards.?We chase?better decisions.

Now, when someone asks for a dashboard, we challenge them:

??Do you need a dashboard, or do you need an answer?

??Is this helping decision-making, or just adding complexity?

That shift changed everything. Fewer dashboards. More clarity. Faster decisions.

So, if you’re drowning in dashboards, here’s my advice:?Declutter. Simplify. Focus on impact.

How do you manage dashboard sprawl in your organization? Let’s discuss! ??