Death by Dashboard (When More Became Less)
The Problem
You know the drill. Leadership asks for a dashboard. You build one. Then another team wants theirs. Then another. Fast forward 18 months and you've got 47 dashboards nobody uses, 12 that kinda overlap, and 3 that people actually love. Meanwhile, you're spending 60% of your time just keeping the lights on—updating filters, fixing broken data connections, fielding "why doesn't this number match?" questions. It's like running a factory where 80% of the production line makes stuff that goes straight to the landfill. Pure waste. And here's the kicker: more dashboards didn't make anyone smarter—it made them more confused.
The Principle
Less is more. Seriously. Kill the dashboards nobody uses. I mean it—delete them. Track usage like a hawk and if something hasn't been opened in 90 days, it's gone. Focus on the 3-5 dashboards that actually drive decisions and make them stupidly simple to use. Think manufacturing: every dashboard is a product on your line. If it's not selling (getting used), stop making it. Free up that capacity for what matters. The magic happens when you go from 47 mediocre dashboards to 5 beloved ones. Watch adoption soar when people can actually find what they need.
3 Steps to Take Action
Run the 90-Day Audit: Pull usage analytics for every dashboard. Flag anything with <10 opens in 90 days. Schedule deletion meetings for next week.
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