What can the two reports reveal together?
You coordinate employee wellness programs at Marshline Components, a fictional U.S. employer.
The question
A manager asks for the voluntary program’s participant count by shift. Each person belongs to one shift. Both counts cover the same program and reporting period.
| Participants | |
|---|---|
| Day | 29 |
| Night | 5 |
These are fictional counts for this exercise.
A report may give a group count only if at least eight people are in that group. The same rule applies to any group count the recipient can calculate from reports they already have.
“Decide what to release and give the manager a next step.”
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A strong answer, step by step
Open each step in turn. This is one strong answer, not the only one.
Step 1: What does the manager need to decide?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Ask what decision needs the split.
The strong move. This identifies the smallest useful piece of information.
Assume low use means the shift has little need.
Tempting, but it misses something. Participation and unmet need can differ.
Send all requested data because the manager asked.
Tempting, but it misses something. The supplied rule still applies to this request.
See how a strong candidate says it
“I’d ask what decision the shift split is meant to support. The counts show program use. The lead may have different evidence about access.”
Why it works: The purpose can point to an existing report or a safer way to answer.
Step 2: What would you check first?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Withhold the night count and check existing reports.
The strong move. This applies the threshold and checks what can be inferred.
Send the day count because it exceeds eight.
Tempting, but it misses something. The manager may be able to calculate the night count from it.
Send the night count without any names.
Tempting, but it misses something. The fictional rule applies to small group counts themselves.
See how a strong candidate says it
“The night count is below eight. I’d check what related totals the manager already has before I decide whether to send the day count.”
Why it works: One count can expose another when both refer to the same groups and period.
Step 3: What can you release now?
The manager already has the approved combined count of 34 for this exact program, cohort and period.
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Keep the approved combined count alone.
The strong move. It avoids adding information that reveals the small group.
Send 29 and leave night blank.
Tempting, but it misses something. The combined count makes the blank value calculable.
Send the night count since the manager can work it out later.
Tempting, but it misses something. The manager cannot infer it from the total alone.
See how a strong candidate says it
“The manager already has 34. If I send 29 for day shift, the difference is 5 for night shift. I would keep the combined count alone.”
Why it works: The recipient can calculate a count below the stated limit.
Step 4: What can you offer instead?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Give the existing total and check the alternate grouping with its owner.
The strong move. It gives the manager usable information within the supplied rule.
Pool two periods and send the result without another check.
Tempting, but it misses something. An overlapping total could expose another small group.
See how a strong candidate says it
“The combined report gives 34 participants. I can ask the program’s reporting owner whether an approved grouping can answer your planning question and check it against earlier reports.”
Why it works: The reporting owner can assess the new request and what the recipient could infer.
The answer, in short
- Decision
- Keep the approved combined total and ask the reporting owner about an alternate grouping.
- Because
- The day count would reveal the night count when combined with the manager’s existing total.
- What would change it
- The owner might approve a grouping that answers the question and meets the rule across the recipient’s reports.
Common traps
- Check a table in isolation.
- Assume that withholding a cell hides its value.
Check your answer
- I asked what decision the report supports.
- I checked the group rule.
- I calculated what a recipient could infer.
- I left new approval with the reporting owner.
Last reviewed Nov 11, 2026