Metrics Semantics and Methodolgy - Devil is in the details.

The goal of any KPI/dashboard initiative should be more than identifying the key metrics but also rationalizing and socializing the semantics and calculation methodologies

There is always talk about having a single version of the truth as part of BI/Dashboard initiatives but the key point that is often forgotten is that it is merely a "version" and in most businesses there are always multiple truths.
A simple example is how businesses measure headcount. There are multiple ways to measure it, census approach (based on the number of noses), another way to do it is to look at is as FTE's (Full time equivalents) if your company has a large number of part time employees. Both valid approaches to measure the total number of employees. So semantic understanding of the metric also are critical when looking at metrics

Once the meaning has been decided, looking at the calculation methodology upfront is often an overlooked aspect. Pulling the thread on the above example. The heuristic calculation would be to count the number of current employees in your employee file. Simple enough except if you are going through layoffs or there is a manager who has several associates on leave of absence so the methodology has to be further refined maybe to only count those that are "active" or not on some kind of pay continuation benefit.

Educating the users of the semantics and metholody of the KPI is as important a part of a business performance management initiative but in my experience is often overlooked until the dashboard is built and then the conversations begin leading to multiple rework loops for all involved