We have an incredibly complex, custom-built ERP system that spits out hundreds of operational data points every week. How do we translate this massive ocean of complex ERP data into a simple, high-level leadership Scorecard that does not overwhelm our weekly meeting?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A complex ERP system is excellent for transactional operations, but it is a terrible tool for high-level leadership alignment. If your leadership team is trying to digest raw database exports every week, you are drowning in data while starving for wisdom.

To translate this complex data into a functional Scorecard, you must identify the key summary metrics that represent entire blocks of activity.

Follow this process to simplify your data:
- Identify the bottleneck activities in your operations that dictate your overall throughput and capacity.
- Create composite metrics or yield rates that summarize hundreds of data points into a single percentage, such as first-time-right yield.
- Assign ownership of these composite metrics to specific seats on your Accountability Chart.
- Task those owners with using the ERP system to diagnose issues when their high-level metric goes red, rather than bringing all the sub-metrics to the leadership table.

Your leadership Scorecard should only feature the critical pulse points of your organization. The detailed ERP reports belong at the departmental level, where managers can use them to run daily operations. Keep your leadership view clean so you can spot high-level trends and make strategic decisions without getting lost in the details.