Traction Tip: Avoiding Potholes

While I’m driving on the highway I have my eyes focused on the road up in front of me much more than behind me. Every once in a while I’ll check the side-view or rearview mirrors to confirm what’s going on around me. I’ll also occasionally check my dashboard to verify what is happening instantaneously. My mirrors and dashboard indicators will not help me avoid an upcoming pothole. I can only do that if I look ahead.

Businesses operating on EOS® use their Scorecards in the same way: looking at the leading indicators to predict where their business is going and avoiding potential dips. While reviewing lagging indicators is a good practice, we have very little, if any, ability to change them. The idea of the Scorecard is to make changes when a measurable gets off-track so that we can accomplish two things: 1) get it back on track, so that 2) we achieve our goals for the health and growth of the business.

For example, reviewing the cash revenue received or deposited for a week is good to know. However, it’s a lagging indicator. A leading indicator to predict the cash we will receive is the dollar amount of invoices issued last week. This is also a measurable that you can impact, whereas you have little control over the amount of cash received.

When creating your Scorecard consider what’s ahead of you on your journey, how you can achieve it, and what adjustments you can make if you start getting off-track or if you see a pothole looming. Making a quick adjustment to your accelerator and steering wheel can help you avoid a jolt to you, your riders, and the system, and ensure you don’t suffer any costly damage.

Creating a valuable Scorecard is often a lengthy, iterative process. Call or text me if you want some help, or schedule a call here.

Entrepreneurial Operating System® and EOS® are registered trademarks of EOS Worldwide (http://www.eosworldwide.com/).