Part 3 (2/2)

”So, you want to help others with designing metrics That's admirable What else will you need to do?”

And that startedjourney I captured ideas fro se curriculus to accoot to the root need and that helped me focus on why I wanted to write the book That helps a lot when I feel a little burned out or exhausted It helpss success, not based on finishi+ng the book (although that's a sub-oal of helping others develop solid and useful rams

Once you think you have the root question, chances are you'll need to edit it a little I'ht It's not going to be framed and put over the entrance No, I mean that you have to edit it for clarity It has to be exact Thehas to be clear As you'll see shortly, you'll test the question to ensure it is a root-but beforehand it will help immensely if you've defined every component of the question to ensure clarity

Define the terms-even the ones that are obvious Clarity is paramount

Keep in mind, most root questions are very short, so it shouldn't take too much effort to clearly define each word in the question

As with s, an example may be simpler Based on the conversation on why I wanted to write this book, let's assume a possible root question is: How effective is this book at helping readers designthe words in the question

How effective is this book at helping readers design metrics? What do we oal, I'll do the definitions Hoell does it work? Does it really help readers?

What do I mean by ”how effective?” The how portion means which parts of the book are helpful? Which parts aren't? Also, does it enable sooal is toareaders design metrics? This may seem obvious, and in this case it is But, you should still check There reater need for a definition if I had instead asked, ”How effective ismetrics?”

Even obvious definitions, like this one-may lead you to modify the question If asked, ”What do you ht very well answer, ”Oh, actually I want to know if the syste” This would lead us to realize that I really wanted to know if my system worked for others-more so than if this form of communication was effective

How effective is this book at helping readers design metrics? Does it help? I have to define if ”help”it?

Is the reader better at developingit?

Does the reader avoid the ainst?

Readers are another obvious component-but we could do some more clarification Does ”reader” mean someone who reads the ”whole” book or someone who reads any part of the book?

Is the reader based on the target audience?

How effective is this book at helping readers design n”? As you have read, fora metric involves a lotthe root need and then ensuring a n” may mean development, it has to be taken in the context of the definition of a metric

What do I mean by metric? Do I mean the -root question, metric, information, measures, and data? If you'd read the book already, you'd know the answer to this question The metric cannot be done properly without the root question, and is made up of information, measures, data, and other metrics Even with that-what I mean in the root question may be a little different than this because the outco the processthe root question to provide an ansould be a success-although no ned

Based on this exercise, if I chose to keep the root question the same, I'd no h, after analyzing each word in the question, I would rewrite the question The purpose behind my question was to determine if the book was successful And since success could result in not designing metrics, I would rewrite my question to be more in tune hat I actually deem success-the effective use of ht be: How effective is nthe Root Question

If you think you've got the root question identified, you're ready to proceed Of course, it may be hile to test the question to see if you've actually succeeded

Test 1 Is the ”root” question actually asking for information, measures, or data? ”I'd like to know the availability of systes us to ask, ”Why?” There is an underlying need or requirehtforward question When you dig deep enough, you'll get to the real need, which is simply a request for data The root question should not be a direct request for data The following are exaas to reach our destination? Is the syste will it take to complete the project?

Test 2 Is the answer to the question going to be si to be a measure? Data? If the answers are either ”yes” or ”no,” chances are you're not there yet or the question doesn't require a metric to provide an answer It et questions after all this work that could be answered with a yes or no But, it happens It may mean only a little rework on the question, but that rework is still necessary Is our newto be a best seller? Should we outsource our IT departood root questions, but, they can all be answered with a simple yes or no

Test 3 Hoill the answer be used? If you've identified a valid root question, you will have strong feelings, or a clear idea of how you will use the answer The answer should provide discernable benefits Let's takereaders developreaders, ill I do? I agements based on the book I may submit the book to be considered for a literary award I may have to hold a celebration If the answer is that the book is ineffective, then Ithe situation I uidelines on how to use the book I may have to offer more information via a web site If the feedback is more neutral, I may look at ways to improve in a later edition

The key is to have predefined expectations of what you will do with the answers you'll receive When I ask a client how they'll use the answer, if I get a confused stare or their eyes gloss over, I knoe're not there yet

Test 4 Who will the answer be shared with? Who will see the eo back to the drawing board If you've reached the root question,the answer One key recipient of the answer should be the tea to be used to appease upper otten to the root or the anson't require ait? When you design the metric, you will do it much more as an art than a science There are lots of courses you can take on statistical analysis You can perfor co that here We're talking about how to develop a useable ram-a tool for improvement If you can't draw a picture as the answer for the question, it may not be a root question

Not all root questions will pass these tests

I' that all root questions must pass these tests But, all root questions that require a ”metric” to answer them must If your question doesn't pass these tests, you have so data, measures, infore So, do it differently, or start doing so at all

Develop the answer using measures (or even just data) This may be a one-time measure You may not need to collect or report the data more than once

Work on the question until it passes the five tests-so you can then develop a et to a metric? You shouldn't If you feel confident about the result, stop If the client says you've hit upon the root question, stop If the question resonates fully, stop Wherever you are, that's where you'll be Work from there Don't force a metric if it's not required

Your task is not to develop a metric-it's to deter a Metric

It's an interesting argu metrics a science or an art? If you read statistics textbooks, youPerforanizational Success by Dean Spitzer (AMACON, 2007), or How To Measure Anything by Douglas Hubbard (Wiley, 2010), you s in real life (vs theory), it's a mixture of both

One place it's n of a n our metric, you want to actually draw a picture It's not fine art It's iven a word or phrase and you have to draw a picture so your teauess what the clue is

At the first se roups of four or five After stepping through the exercise for identifying root questions, I told them to draw a picture to provide an answer to a question The question was, ”Hoe divide our teaure 2-1 shows the best of the students' answers

Figure 2-1 Workload division metric This picture sho each person (represented by a different cup) has different levels of work The level of the liquid represents the amount of work ”in each person's cup” The line near the top is the highest level the liquid should be poured to, because the froth will cause it to overflow This line represents theroom at the top for the ”extra”-like illness, lunch, vacation, etc By looking at the picture, the ets an easy-to-understand story of who has too much work, who can take on more, who is more productive, and who needs to improve their skill sets so that they can eventually have a larger cup

A useful part of drawing the picture was clarity around the question To ensure that we drew it right, we needed to also define the ter in the picture: productivity, workload, and team