Spot the scam message
Find 3 warning signs before you reply.
Is this chart misleading?
Start the axis at zero and look at the sales again.
Try it
Takes about 30 seconds.
The problem
Managers take charts in reports at face value, even when the axis exaggerates the gap.
Who it's for
Data literacy for managers and teams who read reports
Before and after
See how we make a difference
Before
A typical training
- A list of chart rules.
- Examples of bad charts to read about.
- A recreation of a common training, not a real client's.
After
Redesigned
- Change 1: One chart of two branches' sales that looks like a huge lead.
- Change 2: A switch to start the axis at zero.
- Change 3: The real gap, in words: Rs 3 million.
- Reason for change 1: One surprising moment is easier to remember than a list of rules.
- Reason for change 2: Managers find the problem themselves.
- Reason for change 3: The lesson is short enough to share in a team meeting.
In person
Using this in a workshop
In a workshop, teams bring a chart from their own reports and check its axis. Afterwards, the link goes out with the next monthly report.
How we'd build this for you
One surprising moment that sticks
This activity is one example of a pattern that works in almost any subject. Here's how the same idea could look in yours.
- Science literacySee how a tiny study made a headline claim look huge.
- Personal financeSee how small yearly fees eat into savings over 30 years.
- Public healthCompare relative and absolute risk in a news story.
- MarketingSee how a big percentage change can hide a small number.
- StatisticsWatch a strong correlation appear between two unrelated things.
We build it with your subject experts and your own examples, for your workshops and your learning platform. Every piece works on phones, by keyboard and with screen readers.
Free to use
Use it in your teaching
Add this activity to your own course or training, free, with credit to ApexID.
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