High-performance organizations select one customer value as their defining point of differentiation. Having decided their One Thing, great leaders apply The Discipline of Alignment to drive their organizations in One Direction.
And they take this one step further by selecting One Number as the way they keep score.
Organizations track and evaluate many metrics in order to get a complete view of performance, but high-performers are disciplined enough to identify One Number as the main one.
Because you can’t win if your team doesn’t know the score.
The problem with most Dashboards is that they are too complex. They present a mind-numbing array of information – most of it useful, but too often they distract focus away from the most important information. Executives have to demonstrate a mastery of all this information in board meetings or with financial analysts. Having every number memorized is a sign of being “on-top of the business.”
But it doesn’t work as a way to drive organizational performance.
Consider baseball. A player’s batting average is useful information. Their batting average against left-handed pitchers is useful. Their batting average against left-handed pitchers in night games is useful. Their batting average against left-handed pitchers in night games with runners in scoring position is useful. I guess that their batting average against left-handed pitchers in night games with runners in scoring position during the month of October might be useful as well.
But, the only number that really matters is the final score.
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