The KPI Trap—Do Yours Enable Decisions?

Saw a KPI dashboard with an impressive description of progress. And nobody left the meeting clear on what they should be acting on. We needed a diagnostic KPI report. A portfolio review reporting diagnostic KPIs help produce decisions in the room, not just share status updates (that could have been an email).

The question worth asking: Is your portfolio review enabling decisions or just confirming what everyone already knew?

Diagnostic KPIs actually progress the work (not just describe what is happening). That is a distinction that matters.

Here are a few examples of what that looks like in practice:

• Budget: Consistent variance = scoping problem (not a finance issue). Episodic variance = reprioritization problem you haven't named yet.

• Vague risk flags: Impacts need to be identified and assessed. No named owner or decision deadline means the risk is being monitored, but not managed. 

• High late-stage failure rates: Early selection criteria aren't doing their job. 

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