This is a mantra of mine having spent many years managing sales performance indicators. You can’t focus on everything all of the time, well you can, but that would be very unproductive. Working to hit every metric all of the time creates ‘busy fools’ it also reinforces all or nothing thinking.
When managing performance you can’t be ‘on plan’ or ‘off plan’. What you do is monitor levels of tolerance across all indicators. What’s the minimum acceptable standard on each? What plate needs to spin a little faster this week?
In the world of electronics and fitness trackers it’s too easy to get obsessed measuring every metric.
This perfectionist mindset can lead people to fixate on measures and lose site of the goal. Often what it does is ensure people quit as they can’t be perfect.
Understanding the key performance indicators versus management information is the key to high performance.
Key performance indicators the clue is in the name. These are the measures of inputs that make the biggest difference.
Management information is data too and it’s useful to give you a context. It’s helpful when you want to look for opportunities to improve performance from good to great. The marginal gains that we talk about.
The secret to success is to know what to measure and to know when to measure it!
‘If you measure it, you can manage it’. This is a business guru quote. Well there’s another quote I like, ‘just because you can, doesn’t mean you should’
Tracking all metrics and trying to hit all metrics just because you can measure them isn’t a very smart strategy.
Put your focus this week on the one measure you know will make the most difference to your goal. Track that, set some minimum standards, the non negotiable actions you are committing to and see what happens.
What gets focus gets done!
( the others won’t fall off a cliff, you’ve likely already created positive habits to sustain them)
Drop me a message if you need any help prioritising what the focus area should be for your goal or if you are overwhelmed with data and advice from social media.
#fitnesstrackers #performance #coaching #steps #calories #macros #water #heartrate #sleep
