A Metric by Any Other Name...

By Al Weber, President, Tweed-Weber, Inc.

 

For some time now, I have become increasingly aware of the use, or perhaps I should say misuse, of the word “dashboard” among managers and executives. I suggest misuse might be the more appropriate description because, as I think back to the first time I heard the term, it had a very specific meaning. That meaning defined the metrics on an organization’s dashboard as leading indicators for the organization. Much like the gauges and warning lights on an automobile’s dashboard, they would communicate what was going on within an organization in (relatively) real time. And as important, they would be immediately actionable. You could do something about them, in short order, to change them. More and more, however, I hear virtually ALL metrics being described as dashboard metrics, and when I look at dashboards, often proudly presented, I find them to be outcome measures or lagging indicators.

 

While outcome measures have value and should represent an effective rear view mirror look at an organization’s performance, they are not always helpful in generating short-term, quick response reactions to the current circumstances going on within that enterprise. Imagine how helpful (or perhaps unhelpful) it would be if, instead of a fuel gauge on your car, you received an automatically generated report stating you had run out of gas four times over the past calendar month. Even if this report had a cumulative year-to-date column and multicolor graphs and charts, you wouldn’t be any better off. Or what if you received a regular report letting you know that you exceeded the posted speed limit 308 times over the past 30 days? While that may only be and average of 10.26 times per day, how many of those events might have resulted in a long conversation with a state police officer?

 

Both a fuel indicator and a speedometer are perfect examples of dashboard instruments. Their jobs are to tell you when you are having a problem, not that you had one. If you know you have a problem, you can apply corrective action. If you don’t know you have a problem, and worse yet, you won’t know if you are having one in the future, all you can do is count the number of speeding tickets you have received and pay your fines in a timely manner to avoid additional penalties.

 

As you look at the metrics you are currently using to run your organization, you need to ask two key questions. 

1. Is the information your metrics provide real time (or as close as possible to real time) data?
2. Is the data actionable?

If the answer to either of these questions is “no,” you really aren’t looking at true dashboard indicators. You are looking at some form of outcome measures. You can call them Key Result Areas, Critical Measures of Success, or Key Performance Measures, but don’t confuse them with the dashboard indicators that precede, and often predict, your outcomes.