Keeping Score in
your Business
The 2006 season may
have been my favorite season coaching football. Our team struggled early in the
season, but made a magical late season run that culminated with a
Championship. My best friend from my
youth made the trip to the game and I still remember what he told me after the
game. "On the best of the best days
at my work we have never poured Gatorade on each other to celebrate, never had
confetti pour from the rafters. I am
jealous that you get to do this for a living"
In football, each
and every week you get a very public grade.
There is a winner and a loser.
Someone else is working to defeat you, to embarrass you, to take
something from you. Even during the
off-season people keep track and score recruiting efforts. It's intense.
When you win it
calls for intense celebration. Why don't
we celebrate victories the same way in business? I'm not necessarily advocating walking
through the halls showering each other with Gatorade, but would a high-five or
two be so crazy?
I believe it is
because most businesses don't keep score effectively. You may have piles of data and figures, but
what exactly is winning and what is
losing? How are you doing each
week? What happens when you win? What
happens when you lose? Does each team
member have a metric that defines their part of the winning equation? Do you clearly communicate what the
expectations are for winning and losing?
Do your team members understand that actions have consequences? That both winning and losing has
repercussions? Or is it all too
gray? What happens when you fall
short? What happens when you exceed
expectations?
In college and pro
football every week half of the teams spend countless hours preparing…and still
lose. Someone else was better. Half of the teams fail every week. It is a
statistical fact. That type of constant
feedback sharpens your preparation and magnifies every detail in a way that is
hard to explain unless you have lived it.
It forces you to examine every part of your program. You lost, it says so on the scoreboard and
the whole world knows it.
In your business,
give some thought to clearly defining how you will keep score on a weekly
basis. Clearly define winning. Clearly define losing. Then, articulate expectations and celebrate
victory! Continue winning behavior. Repeat winning performance. Despise losing! Regroup, make changes, dig
deeper, analyze, recommit and change the behavior. Find a way to get back to
winning.
While 2016 is still
young, find simple ways for your team members to know exactly what the score
is. Then, get your Gatorade coolers
ready!
