Our scorecard metrics are consistently hitting their green targets, yet our overall organizational momentum is stalling and we are missing our quarterly revenue and margin goals. Why is there a major disconnect between our scorecard health and our actual business performance?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When every number on your weekly Scorecard is green but the company is still missing its macro targets, you are tracking the wrong activities. Your team has optimized for metrics that do not drive your ultimate business goals. This usually happens when scorecard targets are set in a vacuum or are outdated.

To fix this, look at the correlation between your weekly leading indicators and your quarterly Rocks. If your sales team is hitting their target for outbound calls, but your revenue is flat, then outbound calls are a vanity metric. You need to shift the metric to qualified discovery calls scheduled or contracts sent.

Another common culprit is a lack of balance. If your operational metrics are green because your team is rushing through projects to meet volume targets, your quality is likely suffering. This leads to client churn that does not show up on the weekly Scorecard until it is too late. You must pair volume metrics with quality or satisfaction metrics.

Bring this disconnect to your next Level 10 Meeting™ and drop it to the Issues List. Use IDS® to interrogate every single green metric. Ask your leadership team if hitting these specific numbers actually produces the business outcomes defined on your V/TO®. If the answer is no, it is time to ruthlessly redesign your Scorecard.