Killer Analytics: Top 20 Metrics Missing from your Balance Sheet

Preface

Leaders need a constant stream of information to steer their organizations down a path of success. Being able to detect little problems or challenges before they escalate into bigger ones is a key requirement for managing organizational performance.

Too many managers today rely on anecdotal data or no real data at all, with only lagging financial and operational measures to look at to see how things are going. This book is not about measuring financial performance. There are plenty of books about that. It is rare that I encounter an organization that does not have good solid operational and financial metrics. This book is about measuring the stuff that most organizations struggle with. The ultimate goal in most organizations is financial success: growth, profits, share price, and return on investment are certainly important, but many other things are prerequisites to achieving those financial goals. Reviewing financial and operational performance against targets is extremely important. However, the root causes of failures or missing your financial targets are usually other dimensions such as dissatisfied customers, unhappy employees, external factors, poorly performing suppliers, legal and regulatory issues, or failure to bring in quality new customers.

KEY QUESTIONS

This book is about how to develop composite or analytic metrics that provide answers to the following questions that cause sleepless nights for leaders:

• Are we encouraging our people to develop innovative ...