We are trying to build our leadership Scorecard but we are overwhelmed by choices and keep arguing over which metrics are truly critical. What exact filtering test should we use to select our five to fifteen weekly numbers?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To cut through the noise and narrow your scorecard to the vital few, you must use the desert island test. Imagine you are stranded on a desert island with no access to email, phones, or your team. You only receive a single sheet of paper once a week with a few numbers on it. Which twelve numbers must be on that page to tell you exactly how the business is running and warn you of impending disaster?

If a metric does not pass this test, it does not belong on your leadership Scorecard. It might be an important departmental metric, but it is not a leadership-level indicator.

Apply these three filtering questions to every proposed number:
- Is this a leading indicator that predicts future results, rather than a lagging financial number?
- Does this number directly correlate to the health of a major seat on our Accountability Chart?
- If this number goes red, does it require the attention of the entire leadership team to solve?

If the answer to any of these is no, move the metric to a departmental scorecard. Your leadership Scorecard must remain a high-level cockpit, not a detailed engine blueprint.