Metrics

This week we’ll tackle the third side of the Leadership Framework: Metrics. If you have not yet read the previous articles on the Leadership Framework – Introduction; Strategy; Process & Structure – go back and read them first.

For effective problem-solving, you need metrics. You need to put in place a system to make sure that you’re actually living up to what you said you were going to do.

Metrics is another fancy, jargon-y word. But it simply means: What are you measuring? How will you know if you’re succeeding in your strategy, against your goals? In every organization I will guarantee you, what gets measured is what gets done. I don’t care what organizations talk about or write in their strategic plans. What gets measured is what gets done. And the reason for that is very fundamental. In your organization, if your team is measuring something, people assume it’s important. It matters. That’s why you’re measuring it. So if you don’t measure it, it’s viewed as unimportant and it won’t get done – at least, not with the same rigor. If you do measure it, people will say – "Oh, that matters. I need to do this."

A lot of the organizations that I have led say they want to innovate. And in most organizations, people will complain that they don’t see enough innovation. Innovation is a core value in so many organizations. It probably is in your organization. And yet, I often hear, “We don’t have enough innovation – we need more.” 

The first thing I usually ask in that situation is: “What do you measure? Are you measuring new ideas? Are you measuring new products?” If not, that sends a message. That tells people how to spend their time.

You can’t measure everything. Organizations I’ve worked with often fall into this trap – they realize that metrics are important, but they go overboard. They try to measure every single thing. It’s overwhelming, and you lose the ability to send a message.

You have to take into account what I call “the cost of the question.” There is no rule of thumb about how many metrics is the “right” number of metrics. You’ll have to make that call, based on your experience and your knowledge of the rest of the context. How much else is the organization measuring? What else is going on? How will your new metrics be received? And in some cases, when you determine a new metric is important, it may mean you have to stop measuring something else. 

So as you think about what metrics might be right for your Leadership Framework, consider the broader context of your problem. How will you know that you are making progress toward your goal? How will you demonstrate that this is an important priority for the organization? And how will you do that in a way that inspires and empowers your team, taking into account “the cost of the question?”

Next week we'll finish the Leadership Framework with Culture. Don't let that word fool you, it isn't last because it's the least important. In fact, it's the opposite...