How do you measure that which can’t be measured?
How do you know if your efforts are effective, if you have no direct evidence that they are?
We all face this question, regularly. Today’s newsletter, Measuring the Unmeasurable, offers an answer.
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Steve, this is a great post-thank you.
A great resource on this topic is the book “How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business.” by Douglas W. Hubbard This book demystifies a lot of the issues surrounding measurement that typically causes people to just throw up their hands in despair by clarifying how understanding the role of uncertainty in measurement is critical for success. Many people see uncertainty as a binary issue, but in measuring intangibles, 80% certainty is often more than enough to make smart business decisions.
Also, you had a post a few years ago on a similar topic and we discussed how it was difficult to measure retail traffic with anything but a clipboard and a bored intern. Since then, I’ve discovered an interesting company, Flonomics.com that uses facial recognition to determine retail demographics, wayfinding and behavior analysis, gender recognition, etc. It’s pretty cool!
I always wonder how much an outcome is really one person’s work and how much is, if not a team effort, at least building on the work of others?
It’s a very American / European outlook that gives individual bonuses when Asian companies often rely more on collective payments.
Even the example of the wavering donor is ambiguous. How much was due to the fact that the person was to some extent pre-disposed to making a donation – which isn’t necessarily due to our case study executive? So taking a wavering donor to lunch and him then becoming an actual donor isn’t a black and white case of “winning the sale?” It seems to me to be simply the last act in a process and I’m not at all convinced the executive concerned should take the credit for the entire process. There’s a strong case to say he made a great contribution but it really can’t be attributed to him.
Of course, if he had responsibility for the entire process then he’s achieved a positive outcome so it can be attributed to him. But even then, in environments where teams contribute to the final outcome, attribution vs. contribution is a much more nuanced issue.