Incremental Improvement
I have a lot of hobbies. I write blog posts (see?), I write poetry, I make stop-motion animation, I bake, and there's probably some more besides those. Keeping a full time job, maintaining a relationship and maintaining some hobbies is a challenge. Yeah, sure, my life is a challenge. So is everyone else's, but that's not my point. My point is that I really like learning new things and sometimes that's daunting given the time I have to commit.
So here's my trick for how to keep from getting overwhelmed by my own life: scaled questions. What's that you say? You don't know what scaled questions are? Of course you do. How good are you at baking break on a one to ten scale where at one all you can do is spell "bread" and at ten you own a successful bakery? Seriously, where are you on that scale? I'll wait. Now, what would it take you to improve that score by one number? Let's get tactical here. If you're at a one (you can spell "bread"), you might get to a two by baking some refrigerator cookies (the kind where the dough is already made). Voila! You improved your baking skill and you get to celebrate your new learning with cookies! The point here is that it doesn't matter whether you and I agree on the definition of 1 or 2 (or 9). The point is that you decide how to change by one incremental step. Suddenly something you've always wanted to learn (painting, rock climbing, singing) doesn't feel overwhelming, it feels entirely doable. So here's mine:
Why, you ask, is this part of a blog about measurement? I'm glad you asked. Because nearly ALL measurement is relevant mostly (or only) in context. The key performance indicator for customer satisfaction isn't really measuring "satisfaction" which is a complex human emotion, it's measuring (probably) answers to a survey. So then, on a one to ten scale, how good are you at measurement in your organization? How could you improve by one number?
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Greg BrisendineI'm a measurement geek, business leader, playwright, poet, and I like ice cream. Archives
September 2023
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