Made2Measure

A strategic plan is useless if it does not lead to strategic thinking and strategic acting. Developing a strategic plan under such circumstances is wasted effort. The process and steps of identifying desired performance measures serve as a simplified and, in many ways, a superior approach to strategic planning. Because they are unambiguous and actionable, effective performance measures provide a more direct path to strategic thinking and acting than formal strategic planning. A focus on finding the right performance measures also side-steps many of the processes and exercises that engage busy managers (often for lengthy periods of time) – visioning, SWOT analysis, and identifying cognitive styles – but have questionable practical value for making better current decisions. Plumb the Meaning of Life or Watch Your Cholesterol Suppose you’re a 50 year old who is taking stock of your life. You’re ready to tackle important issues like personal health, family, and work. Because you’re a ...

Infinitely more important than answers are the questions, the choice of them, the inner form of them. Oswald Spengler (1880-1936) The historian and philosopher Oswald Spengler was talking about larger societal issues, but his observation rings true for court performance measurement. It is not the measure itself that is important but rather the questions it compels us to confront. How are we doing? Where are we now (performance level, baseline)? What is the current performance level compared to established upper and lower “controls” (e.g., performance targets, objectives, benchmarks and tolerance levels)? How are we doing over time (trends)? Is our performance better, worse or flat? How much variability is there? Why is this happening (analysis and problem diagnosis)? What happened to make performance decline, improve or stay the same. What are some credible explanations? What are we doing...