Metrics don't drive behavioural change

In this age of agile, organisations are looking to leverage metrics and move towards evidence-based decision making. Yet many are stuck in a 'chicken and egg' scenario when it comes to the metrics and behavioural change required to support this shift. 

Metrics do not drive behavioural change

If you were to ask organisations or teams using metrics, whether they have seen a significant behavioural change in their organisation as a result of these metrics, I suspect the answer would be no. 

While changes may come about in organisations or teams using metrics, it is not primarily a result of these metrics themselves. Typically, the changes that do come about are dependent on the person who owns these metrics and the way they interpret them or justify them to support their viewpoint. 

Metrics alone do not drive behavioural change within an organisation; they support it. 

Metrics are treated as second-class citizens

In most cases, metrics are treated as second-class citizens, an afterthought that is retrofitted to projects, workflows or systems after the fact. Used to confirm pre-existing beliefs by management rather than challenge what is already known. 

Metrics are meaningless when retrofitted because they are merely validating the current sentiment rather than measuring whether our initiatives are having the expected impact. 

By agreeing on metrics from the outset, organisations begin to embrace genuine agile management and evidence-based decision making. 

Metrics should specify actions that are expected to happen in ways that can be measured in real-time

Metrics should specify the actions that are expected to happen in ways that can be measured in real-time. Allowing action to be taken if the activity is not having the expected impact.

This makes every activity an actual scientific experiment as you can measure impact in real-time, seeing whether they are delivering stakeholder value. 

By starting work only once the metrics have been clearly defined and by having them available in real-time, everyone knows what’s happening daily. Promoting the three pillars of empirical process control; transparency, inspection and adaptation.

Why don’t organisations agree on metrics upfront

Why don’t organisations agree on metrics upfront? Because it’s much easier to think about the activities rather than the expected impacts of these actions in a measurable way; it also takes much more time. 

The pressure to deliver causes organisations to focus on outputs rather than outcomes and impacts. Tactical approaches and delivering 'something' are often prioritised over strategic approaches. There is little appetite to let teams spend weeks thinking through what metrics they’re going to use to measure the impact of their work.

Genuine agile management is different

Genuine agile management is different. Activities are measured in real-time based on the impact that they are expected to have and the metrics are available to everyone. 

Real-time data, real-time monitoring and real-time alarms are available to ensure that when trouble arises, you are aware of it immediately. 

According to John Rossman at Amazon, every company should operate like a nuclear reactor.

Organisational behaviour must change first to make metrics a first-class citizen rather than simply implementing metrics and hoping for behavioural change to happen naturally. 

Forcing functions to facilitate behavioural change

Companies like Amazon use forcing functions to facilitate the behavioural changes needed to get agile metrics working correctly. Teams are not able to start work on an activity until they figured out how they will measure customer response, building customer metrics as a ‘forcing function’ from the outset.

“A forcing function is a set of guidelines, restrictions, requirements, or commitments that “force,” or direct, a desirable outcome without having to manage all the details of making it happen. Forcing functions is a powerful technique used at Amazon to enforce a strategy or change or to get a difficult project launched.” – John Rossman, Think Like Amazon (2019)

While it’s safe to say having some metrics is better than having no metrics, organisations must shift their behaviours before implementing metrics on the path to genuine agile management and evidence-based decision making.