The Importance of Progress

Companies love Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Transformations are sold on them. Millions saved. Even more earned. We like big numbers. It feels good. Sounds good.

Don't get me wrong. Companies, and people for that matter, should absolutely set ambitious goals. It's how they and we achieve greatness.

It's not that we have ambitious KPIs. It's that we don't recognize success until we've hit them. In the same way that we can't lose 20 pounds after one workout, companies can't realize all those KPIs in one fell swoop.

If we must change the people in order to change the company, and people change through a frequency-fail-feedback cycle, then the path is incremental.

The next time you build a dashboard to measure progress, do just that…measure progress. Real progress.

…Measure the number of employees that don't give up.

…Measure the number leaders that lead by example.

…Measure the number failures that lead to new ideas and solutions.

The path to transforming your company is through your people.

Help them get 1% better every day.

The rewards add up.