Sweat

If you know me very well or have read my blogs regularly, you’re aware that running and metrics are two recurring themes. They came together for me last week. Even though much of the country thinks that Labor Day means the start of fall and cooler temperatures, the weather in Houston never gets the message. So there I was, on my regular run, soaked in sweat, when the insight occurred. A number of things affect how good I feel while running on a hot day. Temperature, humidity, and the brightness of the sun are just a few. On the worst days, I cut my run short because the elements have sapped my energy. On the best days, I run my intended distance and still feel fairly strong at the end. I’m sure that I could put together some sort of formula that would predict the outcome, but I realized it’s far simpler than that. If I’ve not had to wipe the sweat from my eyes by the time I’ve run three-fourths of a mile, and if my legs are feeling fairly good, it’s safe to assume that it will be a good run. If either of these indicators points in the other direction, I’ll be hurting before long. It’s a very simple metric that provides useful, real-time information. And that’s where I see an application for every leader, regardless of whether your role is in a non-profit, a church, a denominational body, or some other ministry. For the important things that you’re doing, you need ways to measure success. You also need ways to measure progress and to predict outcomes. The latter can give you in-the-moment information that can be used to make mid-course corrections. These progress indicators probably won’t be perfect, but that’s OK as long as they are reasonably accurate. In a school, a high percentage of students with excellent conduct for the first three weeks may indicate respect for the teacher, which will translate into listening well, doing homework, and mastering the material. In a church, the number of people who respond to a day of serving the community may indicate a broader desire to serve and a selfless attitude. In a denomination, the number of pastors in an accountability group with peers may indicate that they will have the support and encouragement to make better decisions and lead courageously. So where do you need some simple metrics that can be measured real-time and that will help predict results? And what might those indicators be? It might be worthwhile to sweat a little over this one. It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>