CHAPTER 2 - What to measure

From the book organisational-abilities

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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

When we look at developing our Organisational Abilities, we’ll encounter The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

We’ve already seen that Good metrics are an indicator related to the goal we’re trying to achieve. They provide us with information that helps us decide what to do next to achieve that goal. Working integrated software, customer satisfaction and conversion rates are examples of good metrics.

Bad metrics mislead us. The information they provide does not have a meaningful bearing on our goal. When we use them to make decisions, we may as well have flipped a coin. At worst they influence decisions by sending us in the wrong direction. Bad metrics are usually measured with the best of intentions. They’re just not thought through. In software, velocity is useful for a team but it’s a bad metric for managers to use because it can be gamed at the expense of actual results. In sales, looking at sales numbers is important, but if returns and customer satisfaction aren’t taken into account then sales numbers can go up at the expense of future goodwill and profit.

Ugly metrics are seriously dysfunctional, sometimes tyrannical. They’re less about the goal, and more about control or dominance. Avoid these like the plague, and if you meet or work for someone using them - question whether it’s the right place for you. I recently saw a video-calling feature being advertised to managers by an analytics company. They allow the managers to track the number and duration of video-call meetings taking place. You can imagine how this could easily be misused. Employees may set up meetings they don’t even need to meet their quota. What a powerful way for managers to make a company look busy whilst killing productivity!

In future pages we’ll revisit the Good, Bad and Ugly pattern in relation to metrics associated with abilities discussed in this book.

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