Quality is a vague concept, which makes it hard to measure directly. Here are 5 steps to more easily measure the quality of anything. (more…)

There is a statistically proven sweet spot for how many KPI data points you need before you can start using them and accurately interpreting signals from them.

Lag measures cannot be improved directly; only through changing one or more of their lead measures. And there are six basic steps to make this happen. (more&h...

If we try to introduce our colleagues to a better approach to measurement, but without the right preparation, it will backfire. (more…)

Mission statements really ought to state the ultimate purpose of an organisation - its desired impact on its customers. To know if an organisation is fulfilling its mission (and isn't that important to know?), it needs to be measured. But most mission statements are immeasurable.

My interview with Donald Wheeler is a very practical exploration of how we can better interpret signals from our performance measures and KPI's. (more&hel...

by Michel Dekker, Nova Silva

Enrico Bertini explains in his recipe¹ that studying plays an important role in becoming a Data Visualization expert. However, he also emphasizes it is just the beginning. This was probably the reason why Ben de Jong approached me a year ago to help him improve data visualizations at the bank he works for.

To make useful progress with KPIs, we have to get over our obsession with getting it right, doing it perfectly and waiting for all all the planets line up before we get started. We’d be waiting for ever. And one way to get over these types of procrastination is simply to start where the energy is.

If you're problem isn't having too few performance measures, then most certainly it's having too many. We don't like to let go of our performance measures because we might just need them someday, and it took a lot of effort to get them in the first place. These aren't good reasons for keeping them, and doing so will cause us more harm than good.

Whether you're an executive looking for the right person to lead your corporate performance measure implementation, or you're a strategy or performance professional wanting to position yourself as a performance measurement expert, you need to understand what mastery in the field of performance measurement looks like. You need to be able to recognise someone who possesses this mastery.