Do we have the right performance measures in place?

Success implies there exists failure! There cannot be great without fair performance. It is all relative. Individuals, Organizations, Governments can all be victims of flawed performance measure.

Trade, Titles, Compensation, Promotion, are all tied to performance. The criticality of right measures and controls cannot be overstated.

Here are some I have ruminated over:

• Media covers the number of Ph.D. graduating from schools in China and India. Is this really a matter of concern if 50-80% of them end up moving to the US and or working for US corporations?
• Number of airline accidents. Doesn’t it make more sense to talk about this as a ratio of number travelers each year and report it in relation to car drivers or bikes and cycles riders each year?
• Scarcity of gasoline and heavy dependence on foreign sources, but how dependent are they on our Intellectual Property and weapon sales?

…and its not just now but 10-20 years out.

It is the exact same story in the corporate world… people, processes and projects lack a clear definition of success and miss a measurement system to track and control.