Mark McDonald

“The truth, what is the truth?” is the question that Meryl Strep’s character asks at the climax of the Oscar winning movie Sophie’s Choice (1982) Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie’s_Choice_(film).  In the movie the question of truth shapes the characters, their decisions, their weaknesses and ultimately their fate.  Questions regarding the truth have the same effect on companies.

There almost too many clichés related to metrics to measure. You get what you measure, what you measure is important, the Hawthorne effect, etc.

When executives ask for a ‘single version of truth’, a system of record, they are saying that the data they have now is not the data they need in the future.  The issue here is partially one of systems consolidation and having a single reliable system of record.  The deeper issue is, do executives want a new version of the ‘truth’ because they do not like the answer?

Strong managers recognize that facts and results are agnostic.  Data is neither good not bad, its just data.  Strong managers use data to confront reality, focus on what matters, and take action.  While executives can disagree about the causes of performance or which data is more relevant, they do not fight the facts.

Weak managers seek to change, reorganize or otherwise ‘game’ measures to fit their desired results.  This creates Sophie’s Choice metrics that change so frequently that they lose connection with reality.  Weak managers like these types of metrics as it removes the power of fact, enabling the other sources of management weakness such as blamestroming, strategic constipation and management McCarthyism.

Combat this sign of weak management through the following actions:

• Declare a system as the system of record and drive performance reporting and metrics off that system. Do not worry that the system is not immediately the best or covers everything. Declaring it the single source of data will quickly lead executives to make the investments needed to enhance that system.
• Require information and analysis prior to making executive and management decisions. This is essential for fact-based decisions that require strong managers and to crowd out opinion based decisions favored by weaker managers.
• Make performance information transparent within business units and across executive teams. This supports professional and team accountability.
• Connect transparency with innovation. Focusing innovative energies around high priority issues requires information to form and test hypothesis. When managers hoard information, or protect poor operating performance in one area, they blind innovators as to where they should focus on performance.
• Teach managers and executives how to use information and data. While managers know how to read and use financial/budget data, performance data is different. Knowing techniques like statistical process control, baseline statistics, and data presentation should be part of every manager’s toolkit.

Answering the question, what is the truth, starts with facts and data.  Strong managers welcome data as a means to learning and understanding.  Weak managers see data as a threat.  Facts can show that weak managers are wrong or foolish.  Unfortunately for weak managers that is already self-evident.

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Category: Signs of weak management Tools     Tags: Metrics, Operational Leadership, Signs of weak management

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