We have several long-term department heads who run their areas entirely on gut feel and resist our weekly Scorecard, claiming their creative or highly specialized departments cannot be reduced to simple numbers. How do we overcome this cultural resistance and get these managers to embrace weekly data accountability?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

It is common for creative or highly specialized managers to claim their work is too complex to be measured by weekly numbers. This resistance usually comes from a fear of exposure or a lack of understanding of what a leading indicator actually is. To overcome this resistance, your Integrator must help them understand that anything can be measured if you break it down into units of time, quality, or quantity. You do not need to measure their creative genius. You need to measure the foundational activities that make their department run. Start by asking the manager a simple question: How do you know, at the end of a great day, that your team did a good job? Their answer will usually reveal the metrics you need. If your creative director says they know it was a good day because they delivered client proofs on time, your metric is the percentage of creative briefs delivered by the deadline. Ensure they understand that a weekly Scorecard is not a tool for micromanagement or punishment. It is a tool designed to give them the resources they need to succeed. When they realize that a red metric is simply a call for help that allows the leadership team to support them through the IDS process, their resistance will fade.