STOP REACTING TO NOISE.
START RESPONDING TO SIGNALS.
Measures of Success shows business leaders how
Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More
A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR HOW TO MANAGE YOUR METRICS
Organizations depend on metrics for their business. The question is, are they helping people do the right things? Or, encouraging them to overreact to every uptick, downturn, and change?
In other words, reacting to noise.
Noise is present in every metric. But, it’s our reaction to noise that causes waste and stress. Too often, people don’t recognize this.
Like feeling stuck on a rollercoaster you no longer enjoy.
We do and explain things that don’t help us improve. At the cost of doing things that do. No need to be jittery about every change in a metric. Not by a long shot.
Measures of Success shows a better way to chart and manage your metrics, in any organization or setting. For your business processes and activities, you need to know what’s working, what’s not, and what to change. And why. Then, you can determine what to stop doing, what to start doing, and what to keep doing.
So you can…
Jump off the metrics rollercoaster, by responding to signals.
Systematically. Sustainably.
Learn how to identify meaningful signals in a metric. To respond just right.
Or perhaps, not at all.
You’ll learn how with methods that are easy to understand, making it obvious what activities to do next. Loads of vivid stories and clear examples from healthcare, software companies, and more. With compelling case studies from the news and personal lives, too.
“What gets measured gets managed.“
We’ve all heard that. But did you ever learn how to manage a metric? This ain’t about gaming the system or fudging the numbers. This is about delivering real value, understood by everyone, and proven with data.
Learn a better way to manage your measures.
PRAISE FOR “MEASURES OF SUCCESS”
Dr. Greg Jacobson
, KaiNexus
Mark Graban taught the KaiNexus team how to understand the story a metric is actually telling over time. We've saved time by not overanalyzing every up and down in our metrics — and that’s valuable time we now put to better use.
Quint Studer
, Studer Community Institute
The data-driven decision-making techniques in this book will stop you from confusing activity with progress and—finally—get things done.
HI. I’M MARK GRABAN.
I help people in many industries improve their business processes and results. With methods grounded in Lean, math and science — backed by data. Better to make choices based on facts — instead of opinions, hunches, or feelings. Learn how to convert data, metrics, and charts into knowledge and wisdom — driving more improvement. That’s what I do and why I wrote Measures of Success.
Helping business convert data into insights
Other Lean books by Mark: Lean Hospitals, Healthcare Kaizen, Practicing Lean
See my website MarkGraban.com
WHO IS MEASURES OF SUCCESS FOR?
EXECUTIVES AND LEADERS
…in healthcare, manufacturing, and services. Who know what to measure, and are now ready to learn how to manage those measurements. And…
WILLING TO…
- Challenge and change the way things are done today
- Motivate workers to think and do better tomorrow
- Coach people, versus telling them what to do
- Be responsible for results, not hold others accountable
- Encourage people to collaborate, not compete
- Help people sleep better at night because they’re improving their work during the day
TO BE CLEAR
Measures of Success is not for leaders who’d rather give orders. Then, blame others when things go south. That whole hit the target or else thing… won’t create real change, nor real value. But that ain’t you, right?
AFTER READING MEASURES OF SUCCESS
…you’ll be able to answer three critical questions for your business.
1) Are we achieving our target?
And, how often? Occasionally? Consistently?
2) Are we improving?
And, can we predict our future performance?
3) How do we improve?
And, when do we react? When do we ignore? When do we improve?
…AND HOW CAN WE PROVE WE’RE IMPROVING?
How would you feel if you could answer these questions for your business?
Measures of Success shows you how.
PROCESS BEHAVIOR CHARTS
This book teaches you a proven method for filtering out noise, so we can identify signals. This means we waste less time chasing our tail and more time responding to signals that matter, heading off small problems before they become big, or showing that we’ve boosted performance in significant and sustainable ways.
Process Behavior Charts are also called XmR charts. They’re a form of “Statistical Process Control” (SPC) chart or “Control Chart.” Confusing, right? My book will make it all clear regardless of the terminology you use.
THIS BOOK IS DIFFERENT
Measures of Success is a book for business leaders. Although it’s based on statistical methods, anyone will understand how to use these charts.
No reason to feel intimidated — this ain’t calculus, nor rocket science, either.
Learn to respond versus react to changes in metrics. Have better conversations, creating better outcomes. Backed by numbers over opinions. And…
Prove it all. Visually. In seconds.
With charts and other visuals to show, rather than tell.
REACT LESS. LEAD BETTER. IMPROVE MORE.
Key takeaways for Measures of Success.
- Don’t manage the metric. Do manage the work. Metrics are the result of your work. Improving work improves results.
- Two data points are not a trend. Three? Four? Not usually. A dozen or more? You betcha.
- Data only has meaning when compared over time. Context tells the story.
- A chart tells a better story than a list of numbers. Every. Time.
- More than what happened, be able to predict what’s likely to happen.
- Fluctuations occur for every metric. Process behavior charts show what to respond to, and what to ignore.
- Save your breath and time explaining the noise of a metric, since there’s no ‘root cause’.
- Measure often. Weekly over monthly. Daily, even better. Respond thoughtfully, versus react mindlessly.
Want to react less, lead better, and improve more with a better story for your organization? Who wouldn’t, right?
MARK AT LEAN STARTUP WEEK
See the pattern around this whole signals from noise thing?
View the full 15-minute presentation
BUY MEASURES OF SUCCESS — YOU’VE GOT OPTIONS