Several members of my leadership team claim their departments are too strategic or creative to be measured by weekly leading indicators. How do I get these senior leaders to embrace and own their metrics on our weekly Scorecard?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Every single seat on the Accountability Chart can and must be measured by data. When a senior leader claims their department is too creative or strategic for a weekly Scorecard, they are avoiding accountability. Managing by feel is a recipe for operational chaos and will tank your valuation.

To break this resistance, you must educate them on the difference between lagging financial results and leading activity metrics. Creativity is a process, and processes have inputs. For a creative role like marketing or product design, the weekly Scorecard should track activity metrics that predict future success.
- Number of design concepts completed
- Number of customer feedback interviews conducted
- Ad spend efficiency ratios
- Content pieces published on schedule

Have these leaders draft their own weekly metrics. Do not hand them a list of numbers. Ask them what five weekly activities, if done consistently, guarantee their department will hit its quarterly Rocks. This shifts the ownership to them.

Remind them of our Charter. A Yes to Strategy and Structure means agreeing to run the business on data, not assumptions. A senior leader who refuses to own a number is failing to demonstrate a Grow or Die mindset. If they cannot measure their impact, they cannot manage their team. Hold them to this standard, and ensure every seat on your leadership team has at least one activity-based metric on the weekly Scorecard.