First things first

Screening this week

I am diabetic. I've recently swum 22 miles over three months to raise money for Diabetes UK, and I take my medicine regularly to manage it the best I can. One of the joys of diabetes is the risk to one's eyesight, so I have annual screenings.

These are unpleasant affairs where they dilate my pupils with eyedrops, so I spend the next few hours wearing shades with a mild headache, and the blurry vision makes driving a very bad idea indeed.

Today this year's results arrived, and what should I see? Towards the bottom of the report, a note that my eye was present when tested.

What!? All those technical measurements, and the presence of my eye is basically a footnote?

Starting at the top

Just as assembly lines require steps to be performed in order, and warehousing works much better if you don't try to short-cut the system; in the same way with any business process it's worth getting the first things in first.

They would not have tried to test an eye if it was absent. But on the report, it's listed quite late in proceedings.

Talk about burying the lead...

When we talk to customers, clients, suppliers, and so forth... it's convenient to dress up the facts in a narrative. Narratives rule the world. The story must cover everything, in full, to be helpful. Hiding some salient information in the footnotes is a real danger both to our own reputation and to the relationship with the people we report to.

Being straightforward about the facts is a valuable tool. Think about how useful it is when news arrives without spin or context (because it doesn't need any). You get the information you need, and you can get to work on what it means.

In my job as a Business Growth Officer, a lot of what we do comes with a question - So What? - understanding why we do our job, what our decisions mean, what the data shows, and how much we should rely on it... all these things are subordinate to the real and tangible consequences.

So my thought for today is: what simple (or less simple) information do you need at the top of your reports to help you make good quality decisions in the right order?

I should add for clarity that the results reproduced above are incomplete, and relate only to one of my eyes. And they're basically good news again. It's worth the reassurance though, and my diabetes nurse will be delighted.