Measures of Success · Mark Graban
Did performance change – or did the number just move?
Measures of Success shows how to tell the difference, so your team spends less time explaining every up and down and more time improving the system.
Try the ideas before you buy. Registration required for the free PDF. Or play Deming’s Red Bead Game in your browser in about ten minutes.
Practical methods. Real examples.
No statistics background required.
Sound familiar?
A metric goes up. Then down. A meeting gets called.
Explanations and action items follow. Next month, the number moves again.
But routine variation doesn’t always need a reaction. Measures of Success shows you how Process Behavior Charts help separate noise from signals worth investigating.
Explore the three core questions →Context changes the conversation.
Try it yourself – about ten minutes
Run Deming’s Red Bead Game in your browser.
Six willing workers. One paddle. A manager who ranks, rewards, and puts people on probation for results the system produced. About one game in ten produces a chart that looks like a real change, from a system that never changed.
Chapter 5 of the book walks through the game and what it teaches leaders.
React less. Lead better. Improve more.
Give your team a better way to use data.
Know when to act.
Distinguish routine ups and downs from changes that deserve your attention.
Ask better questions.
Move beyond red and green dashboards to understand how your system performs.
See whether it worked.
Evaluate changes over time instead of declaring victory after one good month.
What readers and leaders say
“Too often, organizations waste time and energy responding to short-term fluctuations in performance that do not reflect sustained trends. Measures of Success provides leaders with a blueprint for separating signal from noise, and focusing resources on lasting improvement.”Zeynep Ton – Author, The Good Jobs Strategy
“The data-driven decision-making techniques in this book will stop you from confusing activity with progress and – finally – get things done.”Quint Studer – Founder, Studer Community Institute
Also endorsed by Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, Karen Martin, author of Clarity First, and Jon Miller of Gemba Academy.
Read all the endorsements →
Meet the author
Hi. I’m Mark Graban.
I’ve spent more than two decades helping leaders in healthcare, manufacturing, and technology improve their work. I kept seeing smart, well-intentioned people reacting to noise and calling it improvement. This book offers a better way.
More about Mark →Also by Mark: Lean Hospitals, Healthcare Kaizen, The Mistakes That Make Us, and the upcoming The Silence Tax.
A few questions before you start
Do I need a statistics background?
No. The book walks you through the method step by step, with examples that connect the charts to everyday leadership decisions.
Is this only for healthcare?
No. The approach applies wherever teams use metrics to understand performance, including manufacturing, software, startups, and government.
Can we use this together as a team?
Yes. Build a shared way to discuss performance. Explore bulk book orders, workshops, and templates and resources.
Start with one chapter. Bring a better question.
Make your next metrics meeting more useful.
Get a feel for the approach, then choose the format that works for you.
Free PDF with registration · Print and eBook buying options