Every time we encounter an issue in our Level 10 Meeting, someone suggests adding a new metric to our Scorecard to monitor it, and we are quickly creeping back up to over twenty numbers. What rule should we implement to protect the discipline of our weekly Scorecard?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A great Scorecard is defined by what you do not track. When you try to track everything, you end up watching nothing. Allowing your Scorecard to creep past fifteen numbers dilutes your focus and turns your weekly review into a tedious data dump.

To maintain discipline, you must implement a strict one-in, one-out rule. If the leadership team agrees that a new metric is critical enough to be added to the Company Scorecard, they must select an existing metric to retire or demote to a departmental scorecard. This forces a healthy debate about what truly constitutes a leading indicator for the business.

Additionally, you must distinguish between temporary issues and permanent operational pulses. If you need to monitor a specific problem, do not clutter your leadership Scorecard with it forever. Instead, make solving the issue a Rock, or track the metric temporarily on a departmental scorecard. The leadership Scorecard must remain reserved for the 5 to 15 vital signs that give you an objective pulse on the entire company. Keep the bar for entry incredibly high, and protect your Scorecard from becoming a list of reactive tracking metrics.