Data presented without context should come with a warning label. Context is king. Movement and momentum are far more important than a current data point. Dashboards often provide quantities of data yet little useful information due to the lack of context in the presentation. This increases the risk leaders make incorrect assumptions as they weigh decision options.
Data might be presented without context through oversight or sloppiness. Regardless of the reason, achieving context is simple – e.g., rolling trend line, or current period vs previous periods. Data presented graphically should also reflect context.
Is your team viewing data presented with context?
“Information is data endowed with relevance and purpose.” Peter Drucker
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