We know we need five to fifteen numbers on our leadership scorecard, but our department heads are fighting to keep their pet metrics on the sheet. How do we objectively decide which metrics get cut to reach that critical fifteen-number limit?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Having thirty metrics means you have zero focus. When department heads fight to keep their pet metrics on the leadership Scorecard, they are usually trying to justify their existence or prove how busy their teams are. To trim your Scorecard down to five to fifteen critical numbers, you must look at the business through the lens of your Accountability Chart, not your personal preferences.

Start by looking at the major functions of your business, which typically include sales, marketing, operations, finance, and human resources. Each seat on the leadership team should own no more than two or three high-level metrics that represent the ultimate health of their department. If a metric does not directly predict the future health of the company or signal an immediate operational crisis, it must be removed.

Ask this defining question for every metric on the list: If this single number went red, would the entire leadership team need to stop what they are doing and help fix it? If the answer is no, then that metric belongs on a departmental scorecard, not the leadership Scorecard.

Moving secondary metrics down to departmental scorecards is not a demotion of the data. It is a refinement of focus. Keep the leadership Scorecard clean so the leadership team can see the forest, not just the individual trees.