Plain-language notes when a number moves

The problem

Dashboards show that something changed but not why. Someone has to dig through reports to find out, and often nobody does.

What SI does

SI watches a few chosen measures. When one moves past a threshold you set, it checks the obvious breakdowns (by location, product, customer, staff member, channel, day) and writes a short note: what changed, where the change is concentrated, and what to look at next. It presents causes as possibilities.

Examples

The same job looks different in different businesses. These are illustrations, not client results.

• Veterinary practice

  New-client visits dropped noticeably this month; the note shows the drop is almost entirely from one referral source that stopped sending patients.

• Restaurant group

  Food cost rose at one location; the note points to a price increase on one supplier's invoices and a menu item selling more than usual.

• Nonprofit

  Monthly online donations fell; the note shows recurring donors whose cards expired.

What it takes to set up

Read access to the underlying data and thresholds for each measure. Setup is often several days.

Try it yourself

Paste this into your SI tool of choice and swap the [bracketed] parts for your own details. It asks SI to stop and show you before it does anything.

Watch these measures [list] in [data source]. When one changes by more than [threshold] versus [comparison period], break it down by [dimensions] and write a short note on where the change is concentrated and what to check next. Present causes as possibilities. Pause and show me before sending, submitting, posting or changing anything.