“I am curious about your goals,” I observed. “They describe a process, but don’t speak to the outcome. In the end, what are you trying to achieve?”
“My goal is to increase efficiencies. We just need to be more efficient,” Wes attempted.
“Why do you need to be more efficient?”
“Kind of obvious, isn’t it? Every company has to be efficient.”
“I get the concept,” I replied. “But what is the outcome, what is the result if we are more efficient?” I could tell Wes was getting impatient.
“We make more profit,” he blurted.
“How much more profit?” I pressed.
“I don’t know, whatever it turns out to be.”
“So, you have no way to measure the effectiveness of your intention to be more efficient?”
This lack of quantification that you refer to is at the basis of many of the problems that we see today in the world’s economy. Nobody flies a plane without calculating the fuel needed to get to the intended destination, it would be suicidal to jump in and just fly; and the same applies to any activity in which important things might be at stake. Efficiency as a mantra is profit as just a belief instead of a measurable goal, and money and beliefs do not tend to mix well.