Read the room before approving a chart
Choose the safest first response when a chart overstates a business change.
The metric improved slightly. The chart makes it feel dramatic. The deck goes to the board in two hours. What should Maya say first? Name the precise risk: the improvement is real, but the bar lengths exaggerate it; ask for a full-baseline or line-chart version. Right. This separates the valid business update from the visual distortion. It applies Tufte's lie-factor test without turning the conversation into a personal accusation. Approve the chart because the labels are accurate and the board can read the axis if they care. Weak. Cairo's point is that charts guide attention before careful reading happens. Accurate…
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