I had a conversation with a client recently about developing KPIs, reports, and queries from their forthcoming data warehouse. My client said: "We have a ton of requests for KPIs and reports. How do we determine which to focus on first?"

My response: "When someone requests a dashboard or query, ask them 'If you knew this information, what might you do differently?'" Because very often the answer will be "Nothing. I just think it would be good to know."

In most cases, the purpose of analyzing data is to understand if we need to change what we're doing. Is there some action required as a result of what we've learned?

In my experience, I've found that many (maybe half?) of all reports and queries requested by the Board and senior staff is actually "good to know" data, not "let's act on this information." There is some value in these types of queries, but the real value is data that will help you identify where action needs to be taken.

Don't fall for the "that would be good to know" trap! Ask yourself "If I knew this information, what might I do differently?"