We have several metrics on our Scorecard that we have tracked for three months, but they always seem to be green and do not seem to predict any real business outcomes. How do we audit our Scorecard to determine if a metric is actually a useful leading indicator or if it is just useless noise we should replace?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A great Scorecard is a dynamic tool that must be regularly refined. If you have metrics that have been green for three months straight but have no impact on your business outcomes, you are tracking dead data.

To audit your Scorecard, run the predictive test. Look at your quarterly performance or financial results. If your business had a bad quarter but your Scorecard was completely green, those metrics are useless. They are not predicting anything, and they are likely just vanity metrics that make your team feel good.

Sit down with your leadership team and review every single metric. Ask yourselves if a drop in this specific number would cause a problem in the business two to four weeks from now. If the answer is no, kill the metric.

Replace these passive numbers with active, leading indicators that require effort to keep green. Your Scorecard should challenge your team and act as an early warning system. If every number is always green and you are still facing operational surprises, your targets are too low or you are tracking the wrong things.