Strategic Discipline Blog

I confess.  I cannot walk by a dandelion without have the obsessive compulsion to grab my gardening tool and dig it out.

Last week I spent a half day doing volunteer work with one of my clients, Roger Vorhies of Schaus Vorhies Construction, calling on schools for Sportsworld and the fall Assembly program we’re committed to.  Roger commented to me that he has the same compulsion for dandelions that I do.  Thank you Roger, at least I’m not alone!

That evening while walking I took this picture of a dandelion.   Lucky for it, it was not on my lawn. 

Walk by any home in the Midwest that has a lawn and simply by viewing the number of dandelions you can determine to what extent the homeowner is dedicated to lawn care.  It’s a clear dashboard that reveals commitment or lack thereof.  I’m cursed with this compulsion to remove my yard of dandelions and to have a fastidiously groomed yard.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have this same public dashboard for your business?  Business dashboards provide you with a clear indicators of whether the company and your staff is meeting priorities or not. 

Dashboards are the dandelions you need in your business.  If you are not clear whether the business or your people are on target to achieve their priorities and metrics how will you ever reach your targets?

Believe it or not your people want and expect you to measure their performance.   In Flight of the Buffalo, Ralph Stayer offered this quote to emphasize the importance of dashboards, “Do the people in your company know how well they’ve done before they go home every night?  People perform what they measure – help the performers to measure the “right” stuff.”

Gallup’s Q 12 for measuring employee engagement includes as the very first question: Do I know what is expected of me at work?  This is not just because it’s important for employers to know, it’s the critical question that employees want to know.  Our people want to know what’s expected so they know whether or not they are measuring up.

Do you have any dandelions in your business?