Metrics can be maddening! Yet they are existential even in technical innovation.
Today, using my cycling computer, I show how discouraging poor metrics and those taken out of context can be.
When pursuing scientific discovery and engineering innovation, it's tempting to say "let's just make this about the journey, not the metrics." Unfortunately, that's a recipe for failure.
This bicycle trip is not about the destination. It's not about speed. It's definitely about the adventure experience.
Yet I benefit greatly from metrics, especially in remote areas where food, water, and campsites can be 100 miles (160 km) or more apart.
The same is true for a venture-backed, hard-tech business. Resources can be scarce and it's too easy for a young business to pivot into perpetual fundraising. Yes, there's much to explore on the journey, but poor or absent metrics neglect the responsibilities for resource stewardship that we have to our families, our teammates, our customers, our partners, our investors, and our creditors.
Let's take a lesson from cycling and configure our business dashboards with the right metrics, in the right context, to guide setting conditions for our team and mission to thrive.
I'm definitely in the Rocky Mountains now. It's difficult to capture the breath-taking panoramas of majestic mountains and babbling brooks. Isaiah 55:12 came to mind: "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap." The gentle swaying of the fir trees looked like applause for the creativity and beauty of this landscape.
