A Love/Hate Relationship with 7 Measures

Thanks to Scott Briscoe on the Acronym Blog for posting about the 7 Measures of Success book. I’ve been wanting to post for a few weeks now, but I wasn’t sure how to really frame my post about the report. Scott did that for me:

I love it and I hate it.

I agree with Scott that leaders in the association community should read the report. I also agree there is some very valuable information in there (I, too, favored the excerpted part about adaptability).

But overall, I have to say, I was expecting more. Maybe it was the hype. I really was “anticipating” the release of this report in Boston. I was expecting to see something…not necessarily “new” (there is nothing new under the sun, I realize that), but at least something inspiring. Something with power. Something that inspires me to new behavior or to go in new directions. Good to Great did that for me. It got me excited because it pointed to things that we did not know, necessarily, that high performing companies had in common. It got me thinking about organizations I had worked for, or clients I was working with—thinking about how I could apply the concepts. I think Good to Great gives leaders new tools or new lenses they can use to get more out of their organizations.

I don’t feel like I can say the same about the 7 Measures report. The tools are a bit too blunt, or we knew about them already. Scott’s example is good one: remarkable associations use research; the others use chance. That doesn’t help me. Wasn’t there anything in there about how to analyze research, or how to incorporate research into decision making? I’ve seen associations drown in data, so how did the great ones prevent that? What was the balance between quantitative and qualitative? And Scott’s point about strengthening intuition is great. I would have liked to have seen that discussed.

Similarly, the emphasis on customer service strikes me as not a sharp enough measure. Particularly when customer service seems to be defined only in terms of being member focused. I’m all for being member focused, but members are not your only customers. Members are never your only customers. And what do you look for in your organization with this measure. People who pay attention to members/customers? That’s not enough.

As I said, I wanted more. Am I being too harsh?

Comments

[Jason Della Rocca]

Overall was an enjoyable read. Certainly could have gone into more depth with practical knowledge.

As a short, high-level book, its best use may actually be as a tool for the board, who are not caught in the nuts and bolts and don't usually worry about practical implementation, etc. Rather, it could serve to help justify the resources to implement new data driven system or an AMS upgrade, just as one example. Or, that alliances should be sought out with more zeal.

What may seem obvious to us, may not be obvious to others.

Jason

[Ben Martin]

You aren't being harsh. To me it's a clear case of over promising and under delivering. You do have to hand it to ASAE/Center for building the hype around this book, though. Unfortunately the hype turned out to be mostly unwarranted.