12 April 2006
One of the features of 'proper' businesses is that they measure stuff; leads, sales, P/E ratios and more... sometimes a lot more.In the old days at IBM my boss ran his part of the business completely by the numbers... he knew exactly how much I cost him as an employee, from obvious things like wages right down the cost of the floor space my desk sat on. (He also knew how much I made him, but that's a whole other thing.)
Measuring can be an extraordinarily useful tool because it helps you focus on the things that matter to you, identify areas for improvement and then track improvements that occur... but you do need to make sure that you are measuring the right things.
At Semantic we don't actively measure very much at all any more. The main reason is that the things that matter to me aren't easy to measure*. As I've mentioned Semantic isn't really about profit (providing we get by). We value fun and lifestyle factors far more highly... but measuring the amount of times you laugh in a day would kinda take the fun out it.
Consequently I know broadly how the business is doing but I couldn't tell you, for example, exactly how much money we made in the last month, or our exact overheads in that period. This is business with a light touch, and is only possible because we answer to ourselves, not shareholders.
I'm not recommending this laissez-faire approach in general. I think we're unusually lucky here, and measuring stuff is a key discipline for most businesses... particularly if you are responsible to others. starting out. I'm just saying be careful that you are measuring the things that really matter.
*the other reason is laziness.
Posted by Nick Warren at 7:40 AM
