Decide over Dashboard

Dashboards are seductive. They make you feel productive without actually producing anything.

The best PMs know that data exists for one purpose: to make better decisions. If your metrics don’t change your behavior, they’re just expensive screensavers.

What This Means in Practice

• Before tracking anything, ask: “What decision will this inform?”
• Set decision criteria BEFORE looking at data
• Act on signals, don’t wait for certainty
• Delete metrics that don’t drive action

The Anti-Pattern

You’re violating this pillar when you:

• Check dashboards daily without changing anything
• Add metrics “just in case we need them”
• Wait for more data when you have enough to decide
• Use analytics to avoid making hard calls

The Mantra

“In God we trust. All others must bring data.” — W. Edwards Deming

But data without decisions is just noise.