What gets measured gets done

What are you measuring? The same as everyone else? Or are you measuring what matters to you?

Whether its your sleep number, salary or blood pressure being overly obsessed on the number it's easy to confuse the measurement with the thing you're actually trying to improve.

Most numbers improve as a consequence of living differently, not by staring at the dashboard more often.

The metric tells you where you are. It can't tell you what matters.

I've noticed the same pattern in organisations. Leaders spend enormous amounts of time reviewing dashboards, KPIs and performance reports. Yet most organisational metrics are lagging indicators. They describe the results of yesterday's decisions rather than today's opportunities.

If you want different numbers, don't start by obsessing over the dashboard. Start by paying attention to the daily conversations, behaviours, routines and leadership practices that create those numbers in the first place.

Measure what matters. But never mistake the measure for the mission.