Lessons for Life
8. You can’t manage what you can’t measure.
If you measure it, you can find a way to improve it. Determine what drives (a) productivity and (b) profitability and tie it to what your customer values most. Then measure it often.
Task: Determine what drives productivity and profitability throughout the entire company. You are looking for specific tasks and items that contribute to efficiency (e.g., shortening the amount of time to make and deliver a product) and profitability (e.g., minimizing the amount of scrap material produced). Put all of them on one Flash Report. Typically, it shouldn’t take up more than one page. You are looking exclusively for the key markers (not every marker). Once you’ve determined that it is an accurate steering panel then distribute it daily or weekly to everyone. Ask everyone, section by section, driver by driver, what can be done to improve that specific number. That relentless, timely focus will drive you further than any gut feeling or group hug.