Leaders Know That Numbers Don"t Tell The Whole Story
In our ever less personal, ever more technological and statistical world, we have witnessed more and more individuals in leadership positions fall into the trap of becoming far too dependent on numbers that they often refer to as metrics, statistics, data or gathered information.
It seems that every study, course, meeting.
training session, and gathering, is followed up by some sort of survey or questionnaire.
While understanding numbers and statistics can often be a valuable asset and tool when used and gathered properly and with understanding, the widespread misuse and misunderstanding of the numbers often poses a greater obstacle to true and effective leadership.
Albert Einstein put this into clarity and perspective when he stated, "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.
" Leaders generally misuse numbers in two manners: By failing to understand the intangibles, and what is not gathered in statistics and data collection/ gatherings; Giving too much credence to the numbers, and failing to fully understand their full meaning.
1.
In my over three decades of involvement in nearly all aspects of leadership, including being a leader, training and consulting, I have witnessed that the recent trend is to more and more reliance on somewhat meaningless and irrelevant numbers.
We constantly see some well meaning, but under - prepared individual, ascend to a position of leadership, and immerse himself in what I often refer to as the equivalent of a Rhetoric 101 course.
In other words, they hear about concepts like metrics, and believe they are the end all and solutions.
Another trap is the over - reliance on the statistical value of certain types of governance system, without a thorough understanding of the nuances and incongruencies.
For example, the formal reporting requirements of certain governance systems often causes unnecessary wastes of time and resources repeating rather irrelevant issues.
Metrics only matter when they are properly understood and applied, and then with the understanding that the numbers are only part of the story.
2.
One of the inherent dangers of these number - oriented approaches is that it overlooks the most important priority of leadership, which must always be the constituents and their needs.
How dare anyone in a position of leadership believe that they have the inherent right to tell others what must be done, solely on review of certain numbers! Do these individuals truly understand what the numbers indicate, and what they fail to take into mind? Have the methodologies of the gathering of these numbers been fully explored, or does the individual acting like he is a leader, simply use the statistics that help him prove his point.
The overbearing message here is that no one methodology, metric, governance or approach, tell the whole story, nor is it the only alternative.
Our greatest leaders have always been those who understood how to balance the numbers with other observations, and focus on the mission and the goals, rather than the rhetoric/ metrics.
It seems that every study, course, meeting.
training session, and gathering, is followed up by some sort of survey or questionnaire.
While understanding numbers and statistics can often be a valuable asset and tool when used and gathered properly and with understanding, the widespread misuse and misunderstanding of the numbers often poses a greater obstacle to true and effective leadership.
Albert Einstein put this into clarity and perspective when he stated, "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.
" Leaders generally misuse numbers in two manners: By failing to understand the intangibles, and what is not gathered in statistics and data collection/ gatherings; Giving too much credence to the numbers, and failing to fully understand their full meaning.
1.
In my over three decades of involvement in nearly all aspects of leadership, including being a leader, training and consulting, I have witnessed that the recent trend is to more and more reliance on somewhat meaningless and irrelevant numbers.
We constantly see some well meaning, but under - prepared individual, ascend to a position of leadership, and immerse himself in what I often refer to as the equivalent of a Rhetoric 101 course.
In other words, they hear about concepts like metrics, and believe they are the end all and solutions.
Another trap is the over - reliance on the statistical value of certain types of governance system, without a thorough understanding of the nuances and incongruencies.
For example, the formal reporting requirements of certain governance systems often causes unnecessary wastes of time and resources repeating rather irrelevant issues.
Metrics only matter when they are properly understood and applied, and then with the understanding that the numbers are only part of the story.
2.
One of the inherent dangers of these number - oriented approaches is that it overlooks the most important priority of leadership, which must always be the constituents and their needs.
How dare anyone in a position of leadership believe that they have the inherent right to tell others what must be done, solely on review of certain numbers! Do these individuals truly understand what the numbers indicate, and what they fail to take into mind? Have the methodologies of the gathering of these numbers been fully explored, or does the individual acting like he is a leader, simply use the statistics that help him prove his point.
The overbearing message here is that no one methodology, metric, governance or approach, tell the whole story, nor is it the only alternative.
Our greatest leaders have always been those who understood how to balance the numbers with other observations, and focus on the mission and the goals, rather than the rhetoric/ metrics.
