When application health is a reporting problem

Teams sometimes request new modules when the underlying issue is that nobody trusts the weekly numbers. Classic tells: three versions of the same queue age circulating by email; incident reopen rates calculated differently by support and operations; efficiency slides that ignore known batch windows.

Before commissioning development, ask whether a clearer report structure would change decisions. If managers cannot name the last decision a report influenced, the pack is ceremonial. Fix ceremony first, then reopen the feature conversation with evidence instead of frustration.