It seems we are obsessed with results. We conduct life as if results are the only things that matter. To most results by any means are results just the same. We manage by results, we define problems by results, we define our job by results, we make individuals accountable for results, we cause harm to others in the pursuit of results, we cheat and lie to show results, and we even define our self by the results we get. Just look around and you will see that results—and getting them now—are all that matters.
Correspondingly we are blinded by our single-minded focus of attention to results. This fixation actually keeps us from understanding that results are the effects of a system or process. We don’t see systems or processes we only see results. Any given system will produce an array of many different results that themselves will vary over time, making things appear more complex. Thus the complexity of our world seemingly increases as the number of results we attend to increases.
You would think that with our obsession for results we’d know how to analyze and interpret the outcomes (i.e. the results) we get. But as a goat would say, na!
We are so reactionary to results that we haven’t the inquisitiveness, the interest or the time to invest in understanding the associated cause system—to learn systems thinking and statistical thinking. Consequently we are unable to understand the results we get, irrespective of whether they are favorable or unfavorable. Misreading and misinterpretation of outcomes/data is epidemic!
When results are favorable we believe we are in control of things and thus expect more of the same by doing more of the same. But, when results are unfavorable we simply exhort others to get better results. We set higher goals and raise standards thinking that this will lead to better results—after all isn’t everyone concerned about results! Using results to get better results is clearly not reflective of sound logic; yet it is a popular practice. America’s focus on raising standards and instituting accountability measures for results in education and the widespread use of management-by-measurable-objective in business illustrate this point.
Again what’s missing is an understanding that results are the effects of a process/system. Therefore without a method for learning about the system itself a hope for better results is merely wishful thinking. It is not reflective of systems thinking, statistical thinking and critical thinking. Absent of this thinking, action taken could not be based on a critically thought out plan. I am reminded of the adage, a narrow focus of attention leads to a larger measure of heedlessness.
Why do we continue in this way, making things worse?
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Some of the confusion here may lie with obsession with the bottom line.
If the money’s coming in, we feel OK, we feel we are growing. If not we feel we are stuck.
A more useful measure may be knowledge, and what we understand. Do we understand our business better, our strengths, our weak points, what our competitors are doing, what niche offerings we have, who our audience are, what their concerns and priorities are ?
So often we are not that good at looking at our business as a customer would, and get carried away by our own invective.
So whether we call it success, business growth or progress, we need to look at how we measure it.
Balanced Scorecard is one way to do that, and there is a great deal that has been written on the subject, and many success stories to show for it.
Perhaps one recent example of a balanced scorecard approach is BP, in the wake of the oil spill. With such a seismic shift in public perception and a huge PR campaign to conduct, they have shifted many operational procedures to have security and safety much higher up the agenda.
Another is Toyota, with the various mechanical failures. Short term their admissions are very damaging. Longer term, Toyota customers know they will be treated with absolute honesty.
Or even the BA Airbus engine failure. Rolls Royce took the approach they would investigate then fix the problem.
All these customers have customer loyalty way up the Balanced Scorecard list of priorities.
And when we then look at operational process, it’s quite easy to start embedding genuine and customer focused values into business process.
If we have the will to do so !
Peter Jones, Director
Blue Oyster Product Development
[...] management is ignoring the underlying cause and setting the organization up for failure. A focus on results—the number of people one retains—rather than what is causing people to seriously consider [...]
[...] argument continues claiming, but it gets the job done and that is all that matters! So results are all that matter, eh! This is not a situation of the ends justifies the means or of no-harm-no-foul! Since [...]
[...] Our industrialized society places tremendous importance and value on the material aspects of life. So much so that the non-material spiritual essence of life is glossed over and ignored. It is more important to contribute to economic growth than to contribute to human development. Effectually we’ve created a society wherein meaning has been supplanted by material ends. Material results are the thing! [...]
[...] as subjects (core-to-core) not as objects. Cease being the mechanic of the machine driving for results, using accountability to force desired behavior and relying on positional authority. Begin [...]
[...] means. Accordingly we have come to identify a leader by whether one measures up to the expected results. But this is a view that aligns with the limiting belief that humankind is at base a materially [...]
[...] matter how much we’ve managed to cram into student’s short-term memory and no matter what the measures and rankings show, we are left with individuals who haven’t developed their uniquely human capabilities, such [...]
[...] is our obsession with results coupled with our universal application of the Newtonian-Cartesian paradigm that guides us in [...]
[...] school, or adding more technology or from laying blame on teachers by turning the focus on results rewards and accountability. Improvement in quality can only come from a focus on the system [...]
[...] rein supreme. Some might contend that knowing how to get results is what it is all about! When getting results is what matters the process becomes the least of people’s concern. Hitting the numbers—by [...]
[...] understood. So of course there is little value added for what is spent! Furthermore, a focus on results, rewards and accountability is not the way to quality. Let’s critically think our way out of [...]
[...] world believing in the possibility of control for desired results. Hence society’s prevalent results orientation and the use of numerical goal setting and accountability schemes as solutions to systemic [...]
[...] the notion that the quality of our education system will improve if we turn attention to better results, better testing and accountability. Though preposterous, it has become quite popular. The idea [...]
[...] Accordingly much of the attention has turned from the top person to the top group as recent research has focused on the impact of the top management team (TMT). However, this too has yet to be conclusive since singling out one person or singling out one group is still reductionism. A major contributing factor is that Western society’s system of orientation is grounded in reductionism and dualistic thinking which supports the pursuit of the one single cause as well as the importance of and accountability for short-term results. [...]
[...] Accordingly much of the attention has turned from the top person to the top group as recent research has focused on the impact of the top management team (TMT). However, this too has yet to be conclusive since singling out one person or singling out one group is still reductionism. A major contributing factor is that Western society’s system of orientation is grounded in reductionism and dualistic thinking which supports the pursuit of the one single cause as well as the importance of and accountability for short-term results. [...]
[...] meaningful purpose of education. In so doing what we’ve forgotten is the fact that our measured results, to which we give unbridled importance, are just re-presentations of the effects of a system; they [...]
[...] to address. Placing all one’s energy toward minimizing the one cause or maximizing an isolated outcome will ultimately result in the destruction of the system [...]
[...] failed to stop me before hitting a tree, so I am going to put a bigger gas tank in the car. A focus on the outcome and not the cause turns attention to the fact that the car is stopped, not why it stopped. With [...]
[...] of understanding. Such misunderstanding places supreme importance on teacher accountability for results—exactly what we are getting from Arne Duncan and other similar thinking [...]
[...] results-only becomes the thing then meaning is lost as everything becomes objectified. Moreover as concern for [...]
[...] and community culture. The way to a value-added system of education is not through union busting or accountability for results or any other such reductionist tactic. The way to an improved system is through an unwavering [...]
[...] that have already happened). Because we wish to have better results doesn’t mean we should focus on results. For better results then the focus must be on the system of causes, the system [...]
[...] most important. In an economic system that advances the primacy of material self-interest and a results oriented culture, getting results irrespective of means is what [...]
[...] a stronger whip by raising standards, holding people accountable and exhorting others to get better results. Since we are seeking to turn educating children into a business we employ the same but stronger [...]
[...] concern since ‘me’ looking good is ‘my’ primary concern—that’s what’s measured. Results matter and what I do for ‘me’ to get those results is what matters—in the end it’s about ‘me’ [...]
[...] gain or achieve the desired outcome, so management practices holding people accountable for results would not be the way of facilitating its [...]
[...] methods (e.g. annual performance appraisal, merit system, incentive system/pay-for-performance, management-by-results/MBO, reward/punishment system and accountability system) for forcing people’s actions/behaviors [...]
[...] is an outcome and not a cause. Managing as if it is a cause with a focus on results along with the belief that the future is just a series of short-terms is a fool’s game. No amount [...]
[...] Management of and by results is the common approach toward seeking control. Accordingly those in authority seek to control results by establishing measureable goals and holding people accountable to deliver the results. Of the many problems with this approach the most significant include: it assumes the parts have no wholeness, that they are just dependent parts; it assumes that controlling other semi-autonomous people is quite possible; the focus is solely on the outcome; variation in outcome is not understood toward building knowledge; and the determination of the goal is grounded in the egoistic desire for material gain and doesn’t require understanding the system’s capability and its interdependence with the larger system. [...]
[...] results are all that matters then the principle of the ends justifying whatever means becomes the necessary guide to action. [...]
[...] goals then hold people accountable for accomplishing them—brilliant! After all business is all about results, so what better way to keep the focus on results than to force measurable goals for results through [...]
[...] Short-term profit maximization has always been the raison d’être of business but in these times of scarcity accomplishing ever increasing profit objectives becomes much more difficult, and near impossible if one stays within ethical and legal boundaries—hence the CEO’s dilemma. So we ought not place blame on the individual when the system not only encourages but expects bold action that returns the desired results—results are all that matter. [...]
[...] matter! Evidence of this can be seen in management’s focus on metrics, analytics and (tangible) results to the exclusion of meaning, value and joy in so many of our [...]
[...] can only make things worse—we don’t need to intensify our obsession with raising standards, results and accountability! That is, we count and measure far too much and understand far too [...]
[...] if not all in management aren’t doing the wrong things—such as managing by the numbers and by results—on purpose they are doing them on cue. What do I mean by [...]