What is the One Measure?
I was listening to the Rugby Pod this week when they revealed how Rassie Erasmus picks his team. They said that he looks at Battle Stats which they defined as the time between having a 'meaningful impact on the game such as carrying over the gain line, making a dominant tackle or taking back possession of the ball.'
I got this sense that the coaching staff had a league table of players based on meaningful impacts. The higher up the list, the more likely you were to be picked.
I loved this because they've clearly thought about 'what's the one thing we care about more than anything else? What do we want our players to do and how do we make it transparent and simple for them to know that we value this activty and want them to do more of it?'
Like most good ideas, it is obvious with hindsight but I don't think enough of us implement this principle of focus.
Most organisations are inundated with data, some of which is valuable. But I think there is a real art in working out what is the most important measure of success. How do we define it, then how do we measure it?
James Timpson (CEO of Timpsons Limited) made a similar point in a Sunday Times article a couple of years ago when he said he looks at 'cash in the bank, more or less than yesterday'.
Working out what is important, defining it, measuring it and then making sure everyone understands it creates clarity. Clarity is essential if you want to create a high performing environment.
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The more measures or areas you have, the more you dilute the focus and attention of the team.
If I give you one thing to focus on, you can apply 100% of your effort to deliver that thing. If I give you five things to focus on, assuming all of them are equal, you're efforts are diluted to 20%... that's one day a week.
If you want to go far and use time efficiently, you have to focus on a few things done well rather than many things done poorly.
What might your single measure be?
For those of you that are interested, here is the Rugby Pod episode. It comes up 10.54 mins into it. Andy Goode - love your work, keep it up!