When dashboards lie

Most analytics teams don't have a data problem. They have a "looks fine in the chart, breaks in production" problem.

In this piece we walk through three checks every analyst should run before publishing a dashboard or briefing.

1. Is the denominator stable?

Half of all dashboard arguments end up being denominator arguments. Pin yours, document it, and re-check it every quarter.

2. Are you summing rates?

Sums of rates are almost always wrong. Re-derive the rate from the underlying counts.

3. Is the join doing what you think?

LEFT JOINs to event tables are a common source of silent inflation. Audit the row counts before and after.

A good check is cheap, fast, and runs every time. A great check is automated.

That's it. Three checks. Run them weekly.