Useful and Helpful

Among my frequently asked questions is – how do you measure your work? That’s a fair question. I spent a fair chunk of the 1980s doing investment appraisal analysis, which only proved to me the prevalence of a well known decision making technique called backfilling the data. So, how do I answer this?

First of all I tell them what I don’t do. I don’t focus on those things that can be easily measured rather than those things that need to be done. I don’t manipulate unique projects to make them look like they contribute to a set of generic metrics. In essence, I say that measurement of outputs is secondary to their impact on outcomes. So how do I keep on track?

The first way is to challenge my own motives for doing the work. The second is to ask those I’m working with if it’s useful and helpful. And the third is to ask those I work for whether it makes a difference. As Groucho Marx once said - Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?

Have a great Christmas and may we all make a difference in 2010.