UPSIDE DOWN EXCELLENCE

Quality that's simple

Paul O’Neill’s next lesson: measure like you mean it.

When O’Neill led Alcoa, his reporting systems weren’t bureaucracy. They were clarity. Measurement, reporting, tracking. Clear expectations for everyone.

We’ve already covered his first move: choose common ground. Safety was the one improvement no one could argue with, and it spread through every corner of the company.

Now we look at the second piece of his playbook: measurement.

Quality professionals know this by heart. Deming said it best:

Any improvement worth doing (work, health, relationships, output) starts with measurement. Humans are subjective creatures with powerful biases. Our feelings about progress rarely match reality.

Think about your own role:. How often do you feel successful?

…

Be honest with yourself.

For me, most days, it feels like someone dumped a pile of bricks on my head. But if I zoom out, and look at the last month or quarter. The improvements are obvious.

Defects that were once common are now nonexistent. Customers who once complained are now silent.

That’s why measurement matters. It’s like sailing. On open water, you can’t feel motion. You check your coordinates.

Want better sleep? Measure it.

Want a healthier relationship? Measure it.

Want faster machine turnover? Measure it.

Want more output? Measure it.

Want to lose weight? Measure it.

A quick example - my team told me I was slow to respond to emails, and they couldn’t get a hold of me. What did we do? Measured it.

We took 2 weeks of data. Looked at when my team emailed me and when I emailed them back. My average response time, just shy of 48 hours. Too long in some cases. We did the same exercise for texts. My average response: 45 minutes. The change? If my team needed a quick answer, they’d text or call me. If the subject could wait for 2 days, they’d send an email.

Measuring provided clarity.

But here’s the warning: don’t let the metric become the mission.

Wells Fargo learned that the hard way when new accounts became the only definition of success. When the gauge becomes the goal, behavior goes sideways.

Metrics are dashboards: speed, fuel, heading. Useful. Informative. But the destination is still yours to choose.

So whatever you’re improving, measure it.

Then keep the bigger picture in sight.

Happy Improving.