Measuring Success
I saw this question on LinkedIn from Michael Cooper—
LinkedIn Community,
I have a question for you all regarding software/technology quality metrics. If you were asked to provide a single quality metric to represent the software/technology quality for an entire division or business unit, what would you suggest? The audience for this metric is a report that is seen by a C-Suite (CEO, CTO, COO) monthly, quarterly, and annually.
I would love to hear your thoughts and recommendations before sharing my own. Thank you in advance for your insights!At first, I wanted to reply with a variety of suggested answers, then it dawned on me…
It’s the wrong question. It would be like me asking you.
What is the one metric to measure YOU—your marriage, your parenting, your community impact, and your professional success?
What’s the single metric answer?
Now, to be honest, I don’t know what the right question is or the right answer. What I do know is that organizational systems are incredibly complex, and our human obsession with measuring them is a fool’s errand. One singular metric cannot possibly provide any useful insights into our impact on overall system performance. While it might make us feel like we’re on top of things, it’s a false feeling of control.
If forced…
If I had to come up with one thing, it would be measuring the feelings I’m inspiring within my system. Perhaps something around happiness from all constituents.
Leveraging my family question, that would be: How happy are my wife, my children, my extended family, my community, and my professional colleagues with me?
But what Board of Directors on the planet will reward or penalize me based on the happiness I engender around me?
Now on a scale of 1—10, how successful was I in totally reshaping your views on success measurement?
Anyway, food for thought: my measurement-centric agile friends,
Bob.