A good house is built on a strong foundation. You don’t build a house on sand, unless you live in a tent. A tent on the sand is fun and comfortable, as is a company with no metrics. But you can’t spend a lot of time in either of them.
A business with a bloodflow of metrics will grow and outlast the competition and sustain growth. Build a business and culture that captures metrics, that ensures their accuracy, that looks at them often, and holds them to accountability at all levels in the organization. What is your business’ most important metric? How often does senior management look at the key metrics that actually DRIVE the P&L, and who is accountable for them? Who owns each of those metrics? What are the goals? Are there stretch goals?
I am convinced this is the key to building a great business, turning around organizations, and motivating people to accomplish great things. So start with the metrics.
Once you figure out this ‘left brain’ side of the business, figure out the ‘right brain’ of your business.