The Number Wasn’t Wrong

A number on a dashboard looked wrong. It was moving in a way that did not match what people believed was happening, so the first assumption was that something in the reporting had broken.

We checked the source. We checked the formula, the filters, and the records underneath it. The arithmetic held.

The problem was quieter. People were using the same word for different moments in the process. The report measured one of those moments. The conversation assumed another.

Once the definition was written in plain language, the disagreement disappeared. Nothing had to be recalculated. We had to name the boundary around the number.

The useful question stopped being “Is this metric correct?” and became “What, exactly, earns a place inside it?”

When a number surprises people, I will not start by defending the calculation or rebuilding the report. I will ask everyone to finish the sentence: “This number counts…” If the answers are different, the metric is not ready to carry a decision.