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How to get started with KPIs, even if you have been putting it off for years
A confession I know how hard it can be to get started with KPIs. Here’s my confession. As a small business specialising in KPIs I measured shockingly little for the first few years. Having stalled but then later realised the the benefits of my own approach, I think I have insight into some of the reasons behind…
Choosing KPIs the right way
Choosing your KPIs the RIGHT way I used to be a bit of KPI purist. I would argue that you must build your KPI selection from ‘scratch’ as your KPIs must reflect your strategic objectives and you should never ‘borrow’ another organisation’s strategic objectives. Having spent a lot of time actually creating KPIs for organisations…
Challenging Jargon: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity
Alan Sokal, a physics professor at New York University, had a theory. In the spring/summer 1996 he tested that theory with an article he had submitted to Social Text, an academic journal of postmodern cultural studies. The article was “Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity”. In that article he theorised that quantum…
Accurate KPIs, Van Halen and brown sweets.
How do you know if you are looking at accurate KPIs, reports or dashboards? Perhaps we can learn a lesson from rock legends Van Halen. A copy of their 1982 tour rider makes for interesting reading. It’s 53 pages long and contains some very specific requirements, including: Two dozen English muffins Six bars of soap Six…
Report Engagement, 10 essential lessons from spam email
I hate spam, so I am reading a book on marketing emails (Email Marketing Rules: A Step by Step Guide to the Best Practices that Power Marketing Success by Chad White) to figure out how to create engaging emails that people actually want to read and open. Reading the list I realised these rules hold…
Explaining complex things simply: Wise words from Silvanus P Thompson
A good friend of mine showed me his treasured copy of ‘Calculus Made Easy’ by Silvanus P Thompson, first published in 1910. Here’s the front cover… First published in 1910, here are some wise words on explaining complex things simply from Silvanus… CONSIDERING how many fools can calculate, it is surprising that it should…
Contradictory KPIs. When KPIs should agree, but don’t
Contradictory KPIs are a common problem and can rapidly undermine management confidence in the KPI system. Even someone who knows nothing about measurement knows that if you look at, say, a figure for widget production in July 2007, then you would expect any other figures for widget production in July 2007 to be the same,…
Common KPI Problems – Stranded Data
There are lots of practical data problems you are likely to come across when implementing KPIs and measures. I’ve identified five of the most common ones. The first of this series is ‘Stranded data’ or data living in small pools throughout your organisation. This issue is fairly simple to spot but probably the toughest of…
KPI Cheat Sheet – Making KPIs and Measures Easy to Understand
Most KPIs are really badly documented, if they are documented at all No matter which industry, I find three things are consistently true of KPIs KPIs and measures are not fully understood by all of those using them KPIs and measures are poorly documented The documentation that does exist is almost unreadable Performance measurement and…
Assessing Report Design Objectively – Avoiding Fights
There are three situations where it can be a good idea to have a structured review of your reports and dashboards… If some of your team are in denial about the need to change existing reports You want some clear ideas on what needs to be included in improved dashboards or reports You have an…