Much has already been written here about the process of capturing the change agenda and developing strategy maps. These important tools are valuable for communicating strategy across the organization. But they also serve as the foundation for identifying the performance measures that will motivate the behavior changes needed for strategy execution. And without a healthy skepticism, measures can mislead as much as they inform. Many remember that Mark Twain wrote,
“Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.‘”