Our managers keep presenting completed design files and client approvals as leading indicators for our project delivery timeline, but we are still missing our delivery dates. How do we test whether a scorecard metric is a true activity-based leading indicator or just a lagging outcome in disguise?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To determine if a scorecard metric is a true leading indicator, you must apply the cash-in-the-bank test. A true leading indicator tracks a physical activity that can be controlled on Monday morning to guarantee a result by Friday afternoon. Completed designs and client approvals are not leading indicators. They are lagging outcomes of earlier activities. By the time a design is completed, the week is over and the time is spent. You cannot change the result.

To find the actual leading activity, you have to look further upstream. Ask your team what physical action must happen to produce that design on time. The true leading indicator is likely something like design draft reviews completed or client input sessions conducted.

Use these three questions to test every number on your weekly scorecard:
- Can the seat holder directly control this number through daily activities?
- If this number goes red on Tuesday, do we have time to change our behavior and make it green by Friday?
- Does hitting this number consistently predict a green lagging result next week?

If you answer no to any of these, you are tracking a lagging outcome. Your leadership team must replace it with a daily activity metric. This keeps your Level 10 Meeting™ focused on looking through the windshield instead of staring in the rearview mirror.