pivot-analysis-planner
GitHub用于规划数据透视表分析,从问题拆解、数据整洁性检查到布局设计与下钻路径。解决因布局不当或数据格式错误导致的分析偏差,确保透视结果精准回答业务问题并指导决策。
Trigger Scenarios
Install
npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill pivot-analysis-planner -g -y
SKILL.md
Frontmatter
{
"name": "pivot-analysis-planner",
"description": "Plan pivot-table analysis that answers the actual question — the question-to-layout mapping (rows, values, filters chosen on purpose), the data-shape check that pivots require, and the drill-down path from summary to so-what. Use when asked analyze this data with a pivot, what's driving the total, break this down by category and month, or my pivot shows nonsense. Produces the question decomposition, the pivot layout(s) with reasons, the data-shape fixes needed first, and the reading guide."
}
Pivot Analysis Planner Skill
Pivot tables answer "what's driving X" in seconds — when the layout matches the question and the data is shaped right. Most pivot frustration is one of those two: a layout assembled by dragging until something looks meaningful, or data that isn't tidy (merged cells, subtotal rows baked in, one-column-per-month) feeding a pivot that double-counts. This skill works backwards from the question: decompose it, shape-check the data, choose the layout deliberately, and plan the drill-down — because the first pivot is the start of the analysis, not its output.
What This Skill Produces
- The question decomposition — the vague ask ("analyze sales") turned into pivotable questions ("which product line drove the Q2 change, and is it price or volume?")
- The shape check — the data problems that break pivots, found before the pivot finds them
- The layout plan — rows/columns/values/filters per question, each placement with its reason
- The reading guide — what the pivot will show, the drill-down path, and the so-what test
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
- The question, pushed to specific: "analyze this" becomes 2–3 answerable questions — the decomposition is half the skill, and it needs the user's intent
- The data's shape — columns and a sample; tidy (one row = one record, one column = one variable) or the fixes list gets written first
- The comparison that matters — vs last period? vs plan? across segments? Comparisons decide the column dimension and whether calculated fields are needed
Framework: The Planning Rules
- Question first, layout second: each pivotable question maps to a layout — "what drove the change" → dimension in rows, period in columns, delta readable across; "where is it concentrated" → dimension in rows, values sorted descending, running % if available. Dragging-until-interesting produces coincidences, not answers.
- Tidy data or fix it first: pivots need one-row-one-record: unmerge cells, delete pre-baked subtotal rows (they double-count), unpivot month-columns into a date column (data-cleaning-pass handles the mess). Five minutes of shaping saves an hour of pivot mystery.
- Values need their aggregation chosen, not defaulted: SUM for additive things, COUNT for events, AVERAGE almost never without a weight-check (the average-of-averages trap). Every value field's aggregation is a decision with a reason.
- Filters are the scope contract: what's excluded (test rows, internal accounts, incomplete current month) gets decided and stated in the output — an unlabeled filtered pivot is how two people present different totals from one dataset.
- Plan the drill, then the so-what: the summary pivot points somewhere; the plan names the next cut ("if the East drop is real, re-pivot East by product") and ends at the so-what test — a pivot finding that suggests no action or decision was trivia, and the reading guide says which findings would matter.
Output Format
Pivot Plan: [dataset] — question: [the real one]
Decomposition
[The ask → 2–3 pivotable questions]
Shape Check
[Tidy? · the fixes needed first, if any]
Layouts
| Question | Rows | Columns | Values (aggregation + why) | Filters (stated) |
|---|
Reading Guide
[What each layout will show · the drill path · the so-what test: which findings change a decision]
Quality Checks
- Every layout traces to a decomposed question
- The shape check ran before any layout advice
- Every value field's aggregation has a reason; average-of-averages is guarded
- Filters/exclusions are stated where the output will be shown
- The drill-down path and so-what test exist — the pivot is a step, not the deliverable
Anti-Patterns
- Do not drag until interesting — layouts follow questions or they follow noise
- Do not pivot over baked-in subtotal rows — the double-count classic
- Do not average averages — weight or don't
- Do not present a filtered pivot without its scope note — that's how meetings get two truths
- Do not stop at the summary — the first pivot locates the question; the drill answers it
Version History
- 471c606 Current 2026-07-22 14:04


