The headline reads: "Tesla sets record for vehicle deliveries, an increase of 40% over a year ago."

This is great news, right? I mean, they set a record! But not so fast. The next sentence reads: "However, the fourth-quarter numbers fell shy of analysts’ expectations."

Ahhh, "expectations."

They set a record, but it wasn't good enough, because some people expected more than just that.

I see this happen all the time when it comes to data management (I've written a ton about this in the past). When expectations aren't met, no matter how good you think you've done, you haven't done good enough.

So it's absolutely critical to set realistic expectations. Here are some that are true regardless of what system you use, or how much money you spend:

• You'll never have 100% accurate data.
• No system will do everything you want it to do.
• No system is up 100% of the time; sometimes it will be inaccessible.
• No system is completely "intuitive." The more complex our processes, the less intuitive it will be.

I'm sure you could add others. The key is to communicate these truths to your users, to help manage their expectations. Because even when you set records, that may not be good enough for people who were expecting even more!