Lean Quote: What Gets Recognized Gets Done Again, and Even Better

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"What gets measured, gets done. And what gets recognized gets done again, and even better."  — Robert Crawford

Data, metric, measures, assessments, evaluations, scorecards, progress reports… Many of us have been faced with a whole host of measurement opportunities. Seems like some of the performance measurements are moving targets that we seldom hit. Some measurement processes come and go like fog. I shared the quote from Peter Drucker last week: “What gets measured gets managed.” Are we measuring what really matters?

We should be very careful about what gets measured. Albert Einstein reportedly had a sign on his office wall that stated: “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.”

“Without a standard, there is no logical basis for making a decision or taking action,” according to Joseph Juran. As we consider what to measure, we must have a standard or a goal to attain. We must measure current performance as compared to that standard and take intelligent, consistent actions (standardized work) to eliminate problems. But what we measure must be important to both the business and those who directly and indirectly impact what is being measured. Keep in mind when something is measured but it isn’t important, it probably won’t get done.

Measure the wrong things and you will likely get the wrong behaviors. Improving performance, in most cases, means changing the behaviors of those who operate and maintain, those who budget and control, those who design and install our equipment and facilities. When we look at changing behaviors, we must always consider the people who must do things differently. Do they have the skills and ability to change? Do the rewards and recognition processes encourage and reinforce the desired behavior changes?

Robert Crawford’s quote “What gets measured, gets done. And what gets recognized gets done again, and even better.” speaks to sustainable gains in performance improvement through behavior change. We should remember that “measuring things” is not about the numbers but rather about guiding and monitoring improvement toward a measurable, observable goal. It is about understanding the cause and effects of problematic performance as well as successes and then leading human performance improvement in our organizations. It’s a known fact: Our equipment and facilities will deteriorate without proper, timely and intelligent, human intervention.