Tom Critchlow

McKinsey isn't in the job of getting things right. They're in the job of getting things to be coherent. And to be coherent is to have a worldview that an idea and a proposed course of action align with.

All I needed to hear when I was younger that the things I love were worth something. We live in the age of tooling and creation. There is no shortage of platforms and resources that make it easier for us to build, but there’s also a lack of cultural understanding around that turns young people off things they’re ridiculously good at and love, along... See more

End users don’t ask for a dashboard because they really use them. They ask for them out of the need for a safety blanket that gives them the (incorrect) belief they will know everything they need to about their business. The noise of a dashboard can be comforting, but it can cause issues when it’s not truly needed (ask doctors about iatrogenic... See more

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