Harsh news flash:
If you stopped someone on the hallway, would they have an idea of what your key metric was for yesterday?
Do your employees seek out data? Are they asking deeper and deeper question of the data? Do you debate the value of metric A vs metric B? When you send out daily/weekly metrics (and of course you do), do they regularly lead to spirited back and forths over Slack/email when a metric spikes/drops? Does your management relentlessly try to improve their understanding of what led to outcome Y?
Do you talk about metrics in your 1:1 meetings with your team? I’m not talking about KPIs in your “Quarterly Goals” PowerPoint deck. No, do you ask questions like “Bob, I noticed metric X dropped last week by 5%. What’s contributing to that?” This is not about calling out someone, it’s about having a common language and guidepost of success for the org.
Do you quantify risk? Do you frame decisions in terms of probabilities? Do you quantify your big bets? No Poker player worth their chips goes into a hand without an clear understanding of the probabilities of the outcome of every possible hand and a clear system of sizing bets. (Kelly Criterion).
Do you give all your employees access to all/some of your data? Do you feel you can trust them with that much access? Do your employees feel ownership of data and metrics at every level?