This article was written by Todd Smith and posted on his blog “Little Things Matter.” I thought it was worth posting. The article talks about if we don’t set goals, we cannot measure them and if we cannot measure them, we have no way of knowing if we have made progress or not.
Why Measure?
Quite simply, what gets measured gets done. Think about it. The very nature of knowing that something is being monitored causes us to work harder and perform better. There’s actually proof of this—it’s called the Hawthorne Effect.
Coined in 1955 by Henry Landsberger, the Hawthorne Effect describes a form of reactivity on the part of people whereby they improve an aspect of behavior being measured simply in response to the fact that the measurement is taking place! Amazing, isn’t it!
When you measure your own performance, positive things happen:
- You are able to set goals and evaluate your progress.
- You always know exactly where you stand.
- You can identify key aspects you want to refine.
- You are able to see the results of your refinements.
- You can quickly and accurately trouble shoot your problems
Measuring performance showed us how we are doing, it brings attention to the key elements of our performance and motivates us to strive harder to improve in each area.
Measuring and Improving
In order to develop or improve any area of your life, you need to do three things:
- You need to know your starting point.
- You need a goal.
- You need to determine how you are going to measure your progress.
Develop an Action Plan
Whether in business, sports, school, or any area of life, you can’t improve what you don’t measure. When you track and measure your results each month, you will have new benchmarks that you can strive to improve upon the next month. If you focus on improving your results month after month, you will begin to see amazing changes take place in your performance and results.
Remember: You can’t improve what you don’t measure.
When you begin to measure what you do and how well you do it, you will begin to see the refinements you can make. As you strive to make small improvements day after day and week after week, nothing can stop you from achieving your goals.
About the Author: Todd Smith is a successful entrepreneur of 29 years and founder of Little Things Matter. To receive Todd’s daily lessons, subscribe here. All Todd’s lessons are also available on iTunes as downloadable podcasts. (Todd’s podcasts are listed #42 in America’s top 100 podcasts.)measure
awesome entry you’ve get
Great read. Thanks for the info!