Send to Kindle

Those whose job requires them to measure things cannot succeed unless they can face reality. The converse is also true: those who can face reality will be more accurate in their measurements.

Metrics scare people. They fear it will make them look bad. The reactions range from denial to anger to avoidance. Others avoid metrics because they are not good with numbers.

The irony is that the process of measurement is often more valuable than the final answer. The process usually results in assumptions being uncovered, dialogues taking place, myths are busted, alignment is achieved, and decisions are taken.

When faced by a tough situation, ask, “How will we measure this?” The answer may be “You can’t.” Your response should be, “Lets try, the final answer is not as important as what we discover along the way.”

This will generally be true in business strategy execution, and true in leadership development. All the hype about big data notwithstanding, measurement is tough. People don’t measure because they think they can’t, the real reason is that they won’t, or they don’t want to.