Tapping the dials

A lot of businesses stiff themselves with targets they don’t care about, mean nothing, and might even have a demotivating impact. Not a carrot, just a rod to beat themselves with.

What’s that about?

Fitting right into this category are fantasy financial targets. Almost everyone seems to have some kind of a three to five year goal based on order of magnitude growth. Three to five years later? Still hoping.

It’s good to have goals, but they have to make sense.

Some of the most useful are much more like barometers. Not so much targets, more dials you tap every time you walk past. Bellwethers that show how you’re doing and let you measure long-term progress. Ratios of new to old customers, retainer to project work, products with our IP against bought in products. Whatever works.

One effect, you manage what you measure.

The other affect, you start thinking about goals and work out what really is motivating.

Skippy Strategy: Just for now, forget the five year plan. In the next six months, what metric is measurable, motivating and mind expanding?

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