KPIs, OKR, Business Plans, Operational Budgets, Performance Reviews – in business we are constantly looking for ways to measure results. An imperative, understanding outcomes is essential to adjust and, if necessary, redirect.
In a 2022 Gartner eBook – Identifying Which Decisions to Reengineer and Why by Carlie Idoine, a survey result caught my eye: 34% of respondents said that “tracking and analyzing the results of decisions” was challenging.
Measuring the effectiveness of decisions would seem an easy task – look at a metric before and after – to decide if what we are executed yielded the expected results. However, more often than not, a decision is a combination of multiple minor decisions, connected into a plan or strategy. Determining which decision, out of multiple ones, was the most relevant or impactful becomes a challenging and interesting endeavor.
According to the Gartner surveys mentioned on this guide, 77% of company don’t track the results of decisions and 25% of organizations review bad decisions more frequently that good ones. As we continue to emphasize the value of becoming data driven as a way to create lasting value for customers and to develop solid competitive advantages, the time has come to pay equal attention to creating metrics and a formal process to evaluate which decisions worked and which didn’t.