If you want to improve business performance, then measure and respond to actual performance on what really matters, constantly. Here are some questions to help you do that. Dear Reader Ask These Questions Vast amounts of time and energy goes into cycles of defining, measuring, and managing individual performance in businesses. The assumption is that individual performance management processes will automatically translate into improved organisational performance. Unfortunately, research on...
2 days ago • 1 min read
KPI. Everyone uses it. Key. Performance. Indicator. But have you actually thought about what is really Key, what would represent true Performance, and what it is actually Indicating? Key. Performance. Indicator. You need all three. Key. Performance. Indicators. You Need All Three You can measure almost anything these days. But more measurement does not necessarily mean better management. The term “Key Performance Indicator” consists of three words – and all three of those words matter. Key A...
9 days ago • 2 min read
Most business leaders recognise the need for implementing some kind of performance management process. The actual success rate of these is a bit spotty, though. Here are 13 ways to really screw this up. 13 Ways to Build a Badly Performing Business Read / Comment on this article on LinkedIn Disconnect Purpose from Reality If the purpose of measurement is to manage things that matter, then probably one of the worst ways you could try to do that, is to complete a document which is then discussed...
16 days ago • 3 min read
You have to choose a few things, sacrifice everything else, and deal with the inevitable sense of loss that results. You can do anything. You cannot do everything. Read / Comment on this article on LinkedIn The loss that comes with tough choices You have to choose a few things, sacrifice everything else, and deal with the inevitable sense of loss that results. According to Jonathan, who writes The Money Blog, this is the single sentence that summarises the whole of Oliver Burkeman's book...
23 days ago • 3 min read
We live in a society that produces weak leaders, and then responds by not trusting the institutions those leaders lead. Small business entrepreneurs, trusted 7x more than government, form a cultural antidote to this deficit. When Leadership Fails An Ancient Picture of Modern Society In the ancient book of Isaiah, we see a picture of what happens when leadership fails. In this passage, it is God removing those who should be leading society. It mentions people that typically were the pillars of...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
Compounding is a powerful and fundamental law. However, compounding requires consistency. Most of us value intensity over consistency, and in the process sabotage the way compounding could have worked for us. Consistency over Intensity Read / Comment on this article on LinkedIn The Initial Decision Here is a recipe for success: Figure out what you want most in life. Create a clear, tangible, observable, measurable vision around that. Write that vision down as a set of goals. Identify what you...
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
The way you approach measurement is more important than the tool you choose. A performance measurement system is one of the best ways to further entrench a toxic culture – or to enhance a strong positive culture. Show me how you will measure me, and I will show you how I will behave “Show me how you will measure me, and I will show you how I will behave.” Eli Goldratt said this, and, as with most things he said, you would ignore this at your peril. The problem, however, is that certain words...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
The enemy, our culture, and our own lack of faith and discipline deludes us into believing that we not only CAN take on unlimited responsibilities, but it also deludes us into believing that we MUST take on more and more. The delusion of unlimited time and energy The delusion of our hustle culture When you get delusional about your ability to take on extra things, you set no limits. And eventually this wears you out. To restrict your work hours takes faith and much discipline. (Looper, Terry;...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Restoring the original design of work is one of the most valuable things you can do as an entrepreneur – for yourself, for your team, for your business and for society. The ultimate purpose of entrepreneurship The view from MacDonalds next to Zhongshan Park, Zhangzhou, China The power of work to be one of the greatest goods in our lives has, for most people, been totally lost, buried under a web of lies that has been spun around us from the day we first go to school. In the beginning God...
about 2 months ago • 7 min read