Bernie
Engaging KPI Stakeholders – Communications
The challenge of managing change and complexity Because organisations are complex structures and the people within them are often anxious and busy, the ‘Engagement’ step is one of the easiest steps to mess up. Just working out who to talk to can be a serious challenge. Here are some key things you need to tackle…
What is the difference between a strategic objective and a mission statement?
There is a bit of a blurry line between mission statements and strategic objectives. Often clues to the strategic objectives are contained within a mission statement. Here are some notable vision/mission statements from history. Example: A grim mission statement General Motors: ‘GM is a multinational corporation engaged in socially responsible operations, worldwide. It is dedicated…
Choosing the best reporting tool for your KPIs
The chances are your preferred tool for managing your KPIs will be a spreadsheet. Whilst spreadsheets are a good solution for many, it’s worth remembering that there are alternative options for recording, displaying and managing performance data. For certain situations, one of these alternatives may be the best reporting tool for your organisation. Here’s a…
The definition mistake that cost $328m
One team, two measurement systems On December 11th 1998 NASA launched the Mars Climate Orbiter. The probe was designed to measure water distribution on the surface of Mars. 286 days after launch the $328 million probe arrived at Mars. It missed the correct orbit by 100km. The probe dipped into the atmosphere, overheating the engine…
How Apple use ‘Observable Consequences’
Figuring out how vulnerable your software is to malicious attack has got to be right up there on the ‘hard to measure stuff’ league table. Why? Because anyone who knows how to hack your software probably isn’t going to tell you that they can. The most valuable exploits are the ones that no-one knows about.…
Process KPIs, the pain-free way
Some KPIs are obvious, but important… When it comes to choosing some KPIs, careful thought may be needed to align them with strategy (see this article on why you should use KPI Trees to do this). Other measures are in the ‘obvious but important’ camp. In process and production environments it’s fairly safe to say that we care about…
How to Measure Just About Anything
How can we use the wisdom and experience gained by the makers of Sesame Street, the chief librarian of the Library of Alexandria and Blue Whale researchers help us measure just about anything? To find out the answers to these questions (and learn how a Nobel prize wining physicist used piano tuners to improve the…
How Hewlett Packard ruined Ghostbusters for me
I like silly I love films. I’m quite happy to suspend disbelief for a couple of hours and watch something silly. That’s how I found myself sat in the cinema with my kids last week waiting to watch the remake of Ghostbusters. I was in a good mood until this advert for Hewlett Packard Enterprise appeared…
Are you deliberately breaking your KPIs?
We value your feedback… I’ve noticed an interesting trend when shopping: A practised extra tip or helpful comment by the sales assistant, shortly followed by a slip of paper being passed to you with a web link for leaving feedback. A sales person explaining that you will get a follow-up customer satisfaction survey and confiding that…