Those Numbers Don’t Matter?

[New Metrics for Success – III]

I hear it all the time.

Those facts and figures don’t matter.
Those measurements are meaningless.
Those numbers don’t matter.

It doesn’t matter the industry, the field, or the market you’re in; if the old numbers don’t matter, well, then, they don’t matter. We all know that. But we’re beholden to old habits. So, we keep counting.

We need to do the hard work of knowing the assumptions behind the old record keeping, number ticking, roll calling, and head counting, if we’re going to move forward.

What's the story behind the numbers?
What’s the history on how we got to tallying those figures?
What was the impetus to tracking those facts, weights, movements, actions?

Until we know, we can’t stop the knee-jerk.
It’s the assumption that needs reworking. The numbers will adjust to reflect the changing assumptions.