From fluffy unicorns to clear progress
Having a destination is crucial. There is no practical way to be successful without it.
But a destination by itself is a fluffy unicorn. Mythical. Imaginary. Disconnected from reality.
So here’s how you create measurements to enable your destination metric.
Waypoints Metrics. These metrics are your key indicators of progress toward your destination metric.
Key Question: What things have to be true in order for our destination metric to improve?
You will likely come up with numerous things that need to be true, but narrow your focus and identify the top two most influential things. It’s subjective and that's ok.
Turn Signals. These are specifically designed decision metrics. When a turn signal hits a specific mark, a decision is made.
Key Questions: What is the dilemma I’m facing? Or What decisions will make the biggest impact on our destination metrics?
These are not “Keep an eye on our conversion rate”. These metrics are specifically designed as a decisions statement: When X goes above/below Y, we will [make this specific decision]
Gauges. A gauge gives you an overall operational perspective, but they are not actively monitored. Imagine staring at your speedometer the entire length of a 10-hour road trip. Pointless. They are reviewed on an infrequent schedule (once a month), but they are not actively managed.
Key Question: If XYZ fails, what’s the metric I’m going to need to check?
Here’s a fictitious example of how a non-profit child safety organization might work through this framework at an Org-Wide level.
Destination Metric (only 1) - # of At-risk children in safe and secure housing and communities
Waypoint Metrics (2 total) - 1) % Of Children Visited on time by Staff 2) Amount of housing and communities available to receive children
Note: Increasing both of these metrics will increase our destination metric
Turn Signal (3 total): 1) When the average length of child stay in a home drops below X months, we revise the host family assessment process. 2) When % of children visited on schedule drops below Y%, we hire another staff member. 3) When number of repeated safety incidence of children in our care increases above XY, we revise the Staff Visit Protocols.
Note: Occasionally your turn signal metrics will be similar to a waypoint metric.
Gauges (4 total): 1) # of New Children introduced into our the program. 2) # of Program Volunteers 3) # of Community Education Initiatives Completed 4) # of Family Counseling Sessions provided.
Note: No one is specifically incentivized to improve gauges. They exist to monitor operational health, not to indicate performance.
This is a powerful framework for getting clear on success on your team.
This summer I’m piloting a two-week program to help data teams define and deliver on success - using this and other frameworks. Hit reply if you want in.
I’m glad you are here,
Sawyer
