"If you're
not in it, you can't win it" - that's what lottery companies the world over
tell you, to persuade you to give them your money. But as they very well know, this isn't the
same as saying "If you are in it, you will win it". After all, if that were true, lottery
companies wouldn't make any money.
But, for
some reason, plenty of people forget this when they hear the business maxim "If
you can't measure it, you can't manage it".
They think it's the same as saying "If you're measuring it, you're
managing it" - but it isn't. And here
are three reasons why.
1. NUMBERS REINFORCE YOUR
PRECONCEPTIONS
Every year,
it gets easier for you to collect, store, and manipulate data. Which is
great news, of course. But it also means you have to work harder to make
sense of all the data you've got. That's why you need reports that present it
to you in a way that's easy to understand.
But here's
the catch - because you have to decide
what reports you want, you only find out about those things you expect to be
important.
So if your
business starts changing in a way you aren't expecting, you may not notice. And often it's how you deal with the unexpected things that makes the difference
between success and failure.
2. MEASURING CHANGES
BEHAVIOUR
When you measure something, people will change
their behaviour to create the right result.
Of course, you usually want that to happen - the reason you measure
something is because it's important.
But beware - the effect of the change may not be
quite what you expect.
For example, hospital emergency departments have a
target for the length of time you or I have to wait for treatment. This seems important doesn't it - none of us
want to wait if there's something wrong.
But the measurement only starts once the patient goes through the doors
of the ward. So what's the response of a
ward that's having difficulty meeting its target? Simple, stop people coming through the
doors! The ward meets its target - but
instead of a queue of patients in the ward, there's a queue of ambulances
outside, waiting to unload - literally.
So when you set a target, remember that's exactly
what people will aim for - even if the effects aren't what you were hoping for.
3. NUMBERS TELL YOU ABOUT
EFFECTS, NOT CAUSES
Without a
doubt, numbers are very good at telling you WHAT is happening in your
business. If things aren't going to
plan, your measurements will tell you soon enough.
But that's not the same as knowing WHY it's
happening. And unless you know why
things have gone wrong, you won't know how to put them right. Unfortunately, your numbers aren't much help
with this.
You need to back up the numbers by talking to people. That's how you find out
what your customers are saying, what's actually happening in your operations, what's
going wrong and what's going right. That's what will help you get back on track.
SUMMARY
So what's this month's message for
you? You should certainly measure what you're doing -
that's essential. But it's not
enough. Remember:
-
your
measurements won't tell you about things you're not measuring, even if they
become important
-
your
measurements won't tell you how people are making the measurements look good - and what these side
effects are
-
your
measurements will tell you what's happening, but they won't tell you why.
If you want to know how you can avoid
making these mistakes, given me a call on 01244 314567 or email me at stephen.errey@lucidea.co.uk
I'm happy to have a chat free of charge and without obligation. Let's get started!
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