Measurements of Performance

Matrix Key:  Financial Viability - Production and Delivery - Measurements of Performance

"In God we trust...all others bring data." - W. Edwards Deming

In business, you can't just amble along and hope that things are going OK.  The only way to measure your success is to do just that, measure your success.  But what do you measure?  And when?  There are literally hundreds of potential performance measures.  Using the WholeLife Matrix, we divide these measurements into four key areas within your production and delivery system:

1. Management - how do you know if your executive leadership is doing a good job?
2. Company - what do you measure to best showcase your company's financial performance in the marketplace?
3. Individual Job Descriptions - how do you and your employees know what is expected of them?
4. Rewards and Consequences - how do you hold the organization accountable for your measurements of performance?

It's important to develop standards that are relevant to your company and that are challenging,  yet attainable. Too many metrics make the focus of your production on the metrics and not the product.  Too few takes the focus away from "doing it right."  You must take the time to develop a set of performance measures that you can calculate quickly and review often.  You can't win the game of business if you don't have some way of keeping score.

Are you ready to win?

Health & WellBeing - Exercise is a habit

Matrix Key - Health & Wellbeing - Exercise and Fitness

Exercise is one of the best examples of a habit.  You can create a habit, or you can let a habit create you.  When you talk to people who are strong in this quadrant, you realize that exercise is an essential part of their daily routine, much like brushing teeth or eating breakfast.  They don't consider if they will exercise, only when they will exercise.  

The key to building a lasting habit is to focus on creating a new identity.  Rather than thinking "I should start working out" and leaving the gym after two weeks, decide what kind of person you want to be.  "I am a person who exercises.  That is just something I do."  Change your focus from if you will exercise, or feeling like you have to exercise because you made a resolution, to just asking yourself when you will exercise in a given week.  As always, schedule this time in your calendar, and treat it as seriously as a doctor appointment or office meeting.

In the WholeLife Matrix, we identify four key components in establishing a balanced exercise and fitness routine:

1.   Exercise Plan

2.   Strength Training

3.   Flexibility

4.   Cardio

If you have an established exercise plan, take a few minutes for a quick review.  Have you incorporated all these components in your practices?  Like everything else in the WholeLife Matrix, a balanced approach is important.

If you find yourself weak in this quadrant, why not start with a walk around the block?  Ask a friend to join you and strengthen your Relationships quadrant at the same time!  Remember that doing something, anything, and repeating it, will instill the habit.

Are you ready to win?

Measuring The Projections

Matrix Key:  Financial Viability - Profitability - Measuring the Projections

"It is often said that there are two types of forecasts, lucky or wrong." - Unknown

Even the best business projections and forecasts are meaningless unless you compare them to your actual performance.  One of the most important facets of Financial Viability is to measure your projections, that is, to measure your company's performance against those projections.  If your results vary widely from your projections, you should take action immediately to either stop the bleeding or make necessary adjustments.  So what's the best plan for measuring against projections?

Here are four weekly actions to take to stay on top of your projections:

1. Accounting department meeting
2. Production department meeting
3. Sales department meeting
4. Estimate department meeting   

Each of these parts of your business need to constantly review their costs, labor, and time, as well as report on any unusual circumstances that will skew the results higher or lower.  A forecast is a critical tool for success, but it is just that, a prediction that will be lucky or wrong.  The proof is in the pudding, and measuring your results is a key ingredient your recipe for profit.

Are You Ready to Win?

We are all connected.

Matrix Key: Personal Awareness - Environment

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children." 
Native American Proverb

We are part of a great network, the environment.  Much like the different areas of a fish tank share the same water, so too we are interconnected  with the world around us.  

Many ideas spring to mind when thinking of the environment - our relationship with the people and things in this great network, the value and distribution of natural resources, and assurance that these natural resources will be around for many generations to come.

In the WholeLife Matrix we identify four keys to environmental awareness:

1.   Equity

2.   Ecology

3.   Economy

4.   Relationship with Nature


At the end of the day, I think everyone wants to preserve that experience of awe and wonder at the heart of our relationship with nature while enjoying the benefits the natural world has to offer to us.  Issues such as an equitable distribution of resources and balancing our need to use and profit from natural resources while ensuring preservation for future generations are issues that often cause conflict.  As we explore these conflicts in future blogs, we will keep our common goals in mind.


Are you ready to win?