The bestiary · The Headless KPI
Specimen · catalogued monster
The Headless KPI
Rides into the board meeting with no owner and no source
A proud and gleaming figure, it gallops through every quarterly review, scattering confidence and confusion in equal measure. Ask where it came from and it simply thunders past, head held high, if only it had one.
Symptoms
- Board KPIs with no named owner
- No lineage from the number back to source
- Movements nobody can explain
- Figures hand-assembled for each board pack
- "Where does this come from?" goes unanswered
Weakness
Give it a head: a named owner for every board metric, documented lineage back to source, and a certified KPI layer the board pack reads from.
Overheard in the corridor
- “Who actually owns this number?”
- “It's always been calculated that way.”
- “Nobody can explain why it dropped.”
- “Can someone trace this back to source before Thursday?”
Share this monster
Spotted in the wild: The Headless KPI. I know at least one data team it's haunting. Which monster is lurking in your data? Confess and find out below. #WhatHauntsYourData
Tag DataArt in your post: type @DataArt and pick us from the list, so we can cheer you on.
The antidote · prescribed by DataArt
Need an antidote now?
Can't wait for November? Every powerful potion needs the right ingredients. DataArt brews them all: modern platforms, trusted data, sharp insight, and AI agents that act.