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As a business owner, you know what it’s like to lie awake at 2 a.m. Maybe it has happened when you are excited and full of new ideas for your business. More often, it’s because you are worried about issues you will face the next day. Sometimes, it’s because you just woke up with the solution to a problem. I’ve experienced all those emotions about my businesses over the years. Awake at 2 o’clock? is where I share them with you, and hopefully help with answers that will let you sleep.
John F. Dini
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Your business is your life’s work. What comes next?
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Tag Archives: leadership
What Price Sochi?
In business, there is a danger that a big new project, landing a giant customer, or an unexpected personal event will draw your attention away from the job of running your business. When an owner is the driving force behind day to … Continue reading
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Measurement Isn’t Necessarily Management
“You manage what you measure” is axiomatic in business ownership. “Employees respect what you inspect.” Understanding performance and productivity by comparing it against past performance, industry norms or internal benchmarks is useful, but measuring something doesn’t mean that you are … Continue reading
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Employee “Rights” in the Workplace
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the “Due Process” amendment, is one of the most-litigated sections of that document. It is also the only one that specifically abrogates rights, broadly removing the right to vote or hold … Continue reading
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Bah, Humbug! Remembering Fezziwig.
Last week was the 170th anniversary of the publication of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (December 17, 1843). The immortal words of Ebenezer Scrooge are ingrained in the memory of the entire English speaking world. I’d venture to guess that “Bah, Humbug!” … Continue reading
2 Responses to Bah, Humbug! Remembering Fezziwig.
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“God bless us everyone!”
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Nice read! A Christmas Carol is indeed one of the best stories of all time. Happy holidays!
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Employment as Video Game
In a recent survey of 20-something employees, the majority said that they expected a promotion in the workplace at least every two years. Most surprising to business owners, however, was that they did not believe that such advancement should be … Continue reading
One Response to Employment as Video Game
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Great points John. I have seen some significant software trends dealing with “gamification” of business process control systems to address this specific subject. “RedCritter Connector” is a notable example of this.
I would agree that putting too much credence into deep numbers analysis is counter-productive. Mark Twain’s quote that, “There are three kinds of lies. Lies, damned lies and statistics.”, comes to mind.
However, over time analytics can indicate trends in employees. One who consistently performs below other employees in whatever KPIs are being measured, needs remedial action. Trends can indicate employees who have a propensity for too much, or too little, risk. And so on. . . .
While it is no substitute for management, experience or intuition, there is a role for analytics.
David Basri
http://www.pointent.com
You assertion that “you manage what you measure” maybe accurate in the extreme of over measuring and producing an avalanche of data that hide the reality of a situation but “you can’t manage what you don’t measure” seems to be a bigger problem with small businesses.
Yes. The quantitative stuff that’s easy to measure is often not the important qualitative stuff to measure.
When you measure something in your business…you’ll probably get the behavior you expect, and then some…
• Is the measurement of “sales time with customer” getting higher sales? Lower sales? Or, more sales of easier-to-sell stuff?
• Is the measurement of “customer service time,” driving faster service, or more errors and irritated customers?
• Is the measurement of ancillary sales creating an erosion of the core brand?
• Is the measurement of errors, increasing the inspection costs of a process?
• Is the measurement of an already low “bad debt” cost driving policies hurting customer relations?
Measurement of stuff in your business can be good. Just be careful about what you measure, and how it’s implemented. Be sure to ask…
• What’s the goal?
• How much will it cost to measure it?
• How will it help the customer and the sale?
• And, what will be the unintended consequences?
Excellent response, Joel. Measuring the impact of measuring is a sensible first step. Too often we put in “controls” without sufficient thought to whether we will be controlling the right thing.