Identifying the Organization's Learning Needs
The metric, being a reflective tool, will naturally guide the organization toward whatever it emphasizes. If the system focuses on errors, then the organization will learn about its errors. If it focuses on successes, then the organization will learn about its successes. If the system is exclusively directed toward the status quo, then it will promote a more singular view of success—and potentially miss emerging opportunities. On the other hand, a focus on opportunities will make it easier to shift, but it could also tend to diffuse the focus on the current processes of the organization. The key is to use the system as a learning device that supports important findings for the organization.
Adaptability as an organization is a function both of the ability to decide and take action and of the ability to scan and assimilate relevant information. With this in mind, building a metric system allows large parts of the organization to work at assimilation in a consistent manner and promotes overall organizational learning. The caution is that it is easy to build a system that, in the interest of speed and efficiency, supports the learning of only a few people.
To best deal with the situation and to create the most useful metric system, first answer the following questions about the overall purpose of the system:
• Where will the information go and who will use it?
• How is it to be used and for what purposes?
The overall process of the system must include capturing the data, creating the metrics, and moving that information across organizational boundaries. In planning the flow, many organizations will funnel the information into the hands of a few people, such as an analyst or a supervisor, with the intention of shortening the process and speeding the flow. The downside to this is that all the learning from that information is focused on the analyst or supervisor, rather than on the person or people who use that information to do the work, which can, in turn, slow organizational growth and adaptability.
Identifying the Organization's Levels of Output
All organizations can be thought of as having multiple levels of output. For example, meaningful divisions can be at the work-unit level, at the department level, and at the overall organization level. Large organizations can have many such divisions. The overall metric system must make sense based on the level of organizational output(s) that it is intended to support. A typical error is to try to use organizational metrics at a work-unit level and attempt to guide action from them. It is often a frustrating or impossible task to try to figure out what impact the work unit has at the organization level in a time frame that you can actually work with.
Organizational metrics often include financial items that are difficult to tie to a work-unit perspective. For example, consider return on investment. At a work unit level, only work units whose core work is in managing this item can actually use this to drive meaningful action. The focus of the metric for the work unit should be on the item that is controllable at that level. Overall organization metrics should reflect the outcome of the collective actions of all the members of the organization.
Please visit the website www.ten-tasks-of-change.com for more information on EGL's approach to change management.
