KPIs or performance measures are like clothes: they each have a certain fit, use, purpose and lifetime. But it's usually quite more obvious when to retire a garment than it is to retire a KPI. (...

When we want people to understand and adopt a new idea, often we rush in, guns blazing, and overwhelm them with too much "how to", too soon. We might be excited about the new idea, but they will be wary. Another band wagon, another fad, another distraction from their "real work". So we need a gentler approach that starts from where they are, not where we are.

The project team gets together and sets the scope of their KPI project. They outline the steps that need to be followed. They specify how much time to allow for each step. They define the report to be delivered at the end of the project. Then they call for quotes from KPI consultants. And even though this hasn't worked in the past, they wonder why it doesn't work again.

Mission statements really ought to state the ultimate purpose of an organisation - its desired impact on its customers. To know if an organisation is fulfilling its mission (and isn't that important to know?), it needs to be measured. But most mission statements are immeasurable.

Experiments are what scientists use to stop assumptions from limiting how much they learn about the natural world. And we can use them in business to stop our assumptions from limiting how we can elevate performance, and from wasting the resources we invest to do it.

Too often we assume that performance measurement depends on technical systems, like a business intelligence system or dashboard application. But for performance measurement to become entrenched in how our organisations work, it's the non-technical systems that matter most.

by Louise Watson, PuMP Partner People often talk about creating SMART measures, but that's not what this tool is for. SMART is for goals. But even then, it's very easy to get it all wrong and end up with DUMB goals anyway. In this article, Louise Watson guides us in how to use SMART properly.

It will be obvious to you how to measure workforce capability. But given the struggle so many have in measuring it meaningfully, it's likely only obvious in hindsight; the hindsight of seeing the unpacked thinking process of designing a measure for workforce capability.

Robert, a Measure Up subscriber, asked how can you demonstrate results when your job is to make sure something doesn't happen. He's basically asking how can you measure what you want to prevent? ...

To hold space for high-performance, evidence-based leaders value and use objective evidence to improve organisational performance, as role-models for everyone else.