My leadership team wants to change our scorecard metrics and targets every time we miss them for two weeks in a row. How long should we keep a scorecard metric active before we decide it is the wrong number to track?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Changing your scorecard metrics or targets every time you miss them is a form of operational avoidance. It allows your team to escape the discomfort of accountability by blaming the metric instead of fixing the performance.

You must commit to keeping your scorecard metrics and targets consistent for at least one full quarter. A scorecard needs time to build a trend line. If you change your metrics every two weeks, you are generating noise and making it impossible to see the true patterns in your business.

If a metric target is consistently missed, do not change the target. Instead, drop the issue to the Issues List during your Level 10 Meeting™ and IDS® it. You must determine if the miss is due to a performance issue, a resource constraint, or an external market change.

The only times you should change a metric mid-quarter are if the data is proven to be completely inaccurate, or if you have fundamentally changed your business model. Otherwise, make your team sit with the red numbers. The discomfort of seeing a red box on the scorecard week after week is a powerful motivator for change. Use your quarterly meeting to review and refine your scorecard for the next ninety days, but keep the discipline tight during the quarter.