Number 129 – Develop Measures to Drive Improvement

Identify and develop measures to drive improvement and signal problems.

Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic

With the strategy deployment season just getting started, number 129 seems an appropriate focus.  When we recognize the objective of strategy deployment is to create a condition of readiness, we should be challenged to define the evidence of readiness.  The answer to that question begins to move us closer to idea number 129.  Readiness looks like the clarity and precision in terms of outcomes necessary for me to evaluate my own efforts toward creating them.  We must develop measures to drive improvement and signal problems.

When the objective of strategy deployment is defined as communicating the vision, we risk speaking a foreign language into the organization.  The measures, outcomes, and timeframes spoken by executives requires significant translation to become meaningful to the team members doing the everyday tasks that create the value our customers seek.  If the measures are not meaningful to the process and team members conducting the work, they will never drive improvement and signal problems.

The 3 Ds of strategy lay the foundation for identifying and developing meaningful measures.  The term Discover is initially misunderstood or misinterpreted.  We are not suggesting you do not have a vision for the organization.  These internal images, however, are difficult to communicate clearly and precisely.  Discover is about language and meaning.  Once language is aligned, Develop begins. 

Develop Measures to Drive Improvement

How we will achieve the goals and objectives our strategy has set in front of us takes time.  There will be adjustments to our process that we believe will move the needle to the determined targets.  These adjustments are communicated and translated and developed through each level until they reach the value creating processes.  This is what Deploy is all about. 

Creating a condition of readiness is the definition and objective of Deploy.  When we identify and develop measures to drive improvement and signal problems, we have created a condition of organizational readiness.  Everyone now understands where we are going, and we can evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of our chosen methods. 

Is everyone ready?

Questions For Your Consideration

Where do you see a lack of readiness in your teams?

Where are measures unclear and confusing to your teams?

What would a more meaningful measure look like to your teams?

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