Thank you very much for the detailed answer. I've done quite a bit of what you are suggesting, but your answer sparked some additional ideas.
I guess my main frustration comes from a feeling that 'this is not what I've signed up for' (dashboarding...). I was under the impression that the company is interested in a deeper analysis of their data and making decisions based on that. Hopefully through a process similar to the one you are describing above, they'll shift towards that.
