We are entering our first 90 days of implementation and our numbers on the Scorecard are highly inaccurate because our data collection methods are broken. Do we stop and clean up our data entry systems first, or do we force the team to run with dirty data during this initial phase?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Do not stop your implementation to clean up your data entry systems. This is a classic trap that stalls your momentum in the first 90 days. When you begin running your weekly Level 10 Meeting™, your Scorecard will inevitably be populated with dirty, delayed, or incomplete numbers. This is actually a healthy sign because the tool is doing its job by exposing the bad data that was previously hidden in your operations. Your initial focus should be on building the habit of looking at the Scorecard together every single week, regardless of how messy the numbers are. If a metric is inaccurate, make it an issue, drop it down to your IDS® list, and solve the root cause of the bad tracking. Sometimes the solution is a weekly Rock to automate the data feed or redesign a simple tracking sheet. If you wait until your data is perfect to run your meetings, you will never actually launch. The discipline of meeting weekly and confronting the gaps is what forces your team to clean up the data. Accept the messiness as a necessary part of the crawl stage. Use the first 90 days to build the rhythmic habit of accountability, and let that discipline drive the operational cleanup.