Tom Critchlow

Good dashboards anticipate followups. A good dashboard says, "This dip, right here, which I know sticks out immediately? It was caused by our pricing change." A bad dashboard leaves the user wondering, "What happened then?" A good dashboard makes rates of change — week-over-week, year-over-year — immediately apparent. A bad dashboard leaves the... See more

I'm convinced that because Joy knew every part of our business as well or better than almost anyone running them, she was one of those rare CFO's that can play offense in addition to defense. Almost every other CFO I've met hews close to the stereotype; always reigning in spending, urging more fiscal conservatism, casting a skeptical eye on any... See more

Amazon argues that it’s not enough to know your output metrics. In fact, they go even further, and say that you shouldn’t pay much attention to your output metrics; you should pay attention to the controllable input metrics that you know will affect those output metrics. It is a very different thing when, say, your customer support team knows that... See more

After companies adopt business intelligence tools, before they know it, they're swimming through endless seas of dashboard charts. On the surface it might look like these companies are "data-driven," but the data is difficult to act on.Flat metrics dashboards conflate leading and lagging indicators. They don't distinguish between controllable input... See more

What do you do if you feel caught between the gaps?Find the overlaps.