by Doug Gray | Sep 20, 2011 | Business, change, Coaching, Leadership, Personal Development, Success
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are commonly used metrics for a business. You may use quarterly returns, cash flow, % new sales, #of clients retained in your daily life. Accountants and MBAs are taught to master these. As if they were gospel.
But they are not gospel. They are a choice.
What if we these KPIs were only metric among several?
1. Posted on the door of my home office are two examples of alternate KPIs. One is a list of financial metrics by month (e.g. revenue, expenses, investments, monthly gross, bank balance, and % of 12 month goal.) That visual keeps me focused on business. And it teaches our high-school aged daughters something about business. The second list is called “Passionate Actions.” These are the reasons why I work. Listed monthly are the family trips, personal trips, adventures, life decisions in the past and in the future. I update both lists quarterly, or so. Together, these KPIs keep me focused on 1) the top line, 2) bottom line, and 3) key lines.
2. According to recent articles in Fast Company and the TED community online, there is a new KPI being adopted in several countries in Northern Europe. They measure Happiness. As a social construct. And as a material currency. Details are at http://blog.ted.com/2006/09/26/happiness_exper/ Can you imagine using a Happiness Quotient, HQ, as a measure of your personal success? Makes me wonder if we are missing this KPI in America. The health and social benefits of happiness as a choice are well documented. The alternatives are even better documented (e.g. depression, violence, poor health and diet…)
3. Alienation. Anomie. Social Isolation. These are not commonly discussed points at your local breakfast Rotary Club, or while watching your kids play soccer. But these are social facts in America. Especially for men, who are being replaced by women throughout every business segment in America. These people may be too sad to talk. They do not easily build relationships. So, perhaps we need to adopt radical new KPIs such as “The number of direct conversations with people per day. The quality of conversation per day. The number of hours helping others per day.” Relationships define business success, and psychological health. We know that those who live longest have a strong social network. Hmmm… solopreneurs are not the only ones who need to guarantee social contacts. Look at any coffeeshop or bookstore or library for examples of lonely people. Watch how many fathers are at school bus stops, or PTA meetings. Scan any online dating company. Did you know that you can now “Rent-a-Grandma” to watch your children? Makes me wonder what would happen if we were to create KPIs around constructive social relationships.
Like many readers, I have shelves of books on Success. I regularly send subscriptions of Success magazine to my most engaged coaching clients. Creating “success” is a work in progress, and the metrics define the outcome.
What if we were to adopt a new view of KPIs?
by Doug Gray | Jan 1, 2011 | Success
Once again, 2010 was a wonderful year for our family. I don’t know why. Perhaps one reason is because “Hope” is my favorite advent candle. As we emerge from the longest night, the winter solstice, and the holidays, it seems timely to think about how we choose to say, or do, or react to stimulus.
Consider these facts:
– There is currently more global peace, per capita, than at any time in the recorded history of mankind.
– More people have more physical needs, for food and shelter and clean water, than at any time in recorded history. Preventable illnesses like polio are nearly eradicated.
– More information is available to more people than at any time. Over 3 billion of our 6.5 billion people have access to the internet. Literacy rates per capita have never been higher.
– The ancient need for free expression of ideas has enabled more oppressed people than ever to voice their needs using technology. That trend has led to changes in microeconomics, democracy, social and racial equality, global distribution of products and services, social marketing, interpersonal connections… and will lead to more changes.
– We know the ingredients for a successful life include a healthy diet, regular exercise, connection with others, purposeful work, autonomy, free choice.
So, how do I/you choose to be a hopeful American? Here are some of my recent favorites:
– www.TED.com for almost any uplifting subject and global commentary
– www.NetFlix.com for PBS documentaries such as Dr. Andrew Weil’s “Healthy Aging”
– www.SuccessFinder.com for a focus on your top strengths and how to implement them at work and in life
– Any financial literacy website, or authors such as Dave Ramsey or Suze Orman
– Drive, by Daniel Pink, explores how business is catching up with science to drive self-directed thinking and motivation and suggest future work patterns
– The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, reminds me how our Personal Legend can lead to vast wealth
– Mojo, by Marshall Goldsmith, provides a framework for changes in inertia
Perhaps, if there is a common thread among these favorites, it may be that I choose to be Hopeful. And keep my head down, while persisting on a long, slow run
What is my wish for you? That 2011 may be all that you desire!
In peace,
Doug Gray, PCC
by Doug Gray | Jun 11, 2010 | Coaching, Personal Development, Success
We all make choices, some 30,000 choices every waking hour.
How are you choosing to respond?
Consider the realities: our world is a hostile place with unemployment, terrorists, the Iraq war, Afghanistan war, Iran/Israel conflict, earthquakes, volcanoes, oil spills, stock market crashes, lack of personal savings as 401Ks become 201Ks, obesity, heart disease, cancer, expensive health insurance, home mortgages turned upside down, the rising U.S. national debt… add your examples. We are living in turbulent times.
So what do you do?
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by Doug Gray | Jun 7, 2010 | Business, Coaching, Meetings
What are the odds that:
- The prospect you just called and left a message for at his work number is there at the airport when you are?
- That you each look up and see each other?
- That you are flying at about the same time from the same terminal and have enough time for a beer and dinner?
- That you chat for over an hour about careers, consulting, family, business opportunities together? In a breathless, gushing exchange of optimism.
- That his direct report replied earlier in the day saying “we are not moving forward because we have selected another consultant” and he says “the meetings this afternoon did not go well and we are not sure how to proceed”? Those doors remain open…
- That he misses his flight and you have to say, “I am so sad…”
Some Hollywood script? No, a true snapshot of last week’s chance meeting with a good friend and a great prospect. Life beckons, and we either dance or not. We had a great dinner. He missed his flight. There are always consequences. He was able to spend another night at home with his young family, and still make his meetings the next day in Dallas. And they upgraded his ticket to first class.
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by Doug Gray | May 31, 2010 | Employment, money, Personal Development
Have you ever asked yourself this question?
Then come to Tuesday’s Career Lunch & Learn featuring Doug Gray, author of Passionate Action: How You Can Turn Life’s Challenges Into Life’s Adventures and owner of Action Learning Associates, Inc., an executive coaching business.
That was the advertisement last week. My daughter asked me to speak, so of course I said “Yes!”
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