In Like a Lion, March Madness is Upon Us

This is one of my favorite times of year – I love basketball.  Of course, Michigan State has Tom Izzo who was an excellent successor to Jud Heathcoat, head coach when I attended during the Magic Johnson era.  I love the fact that Earvin still goes to games when we are in the sweet 16 – which I hope happens this year!

Basketball is a game of numbers, and for college players that have outstanding numbers during the playoffs, the reward is extra salary numbers when they go pro.  There are other factors (or variables) that impact a players performance, and pro teams have been taking those into consideration as well.  The NBA just launched their stats sight (powered by SAP), and of course, ESPN and Yahoo jumped on board.  I am sure it will have an impact on the number of Fantasy players!

When the numbers are freely available, the player’s performance is scrutinized more closely by a much larger group of people.  These statistics form the players scorecard.  Players can see what is working and where they need improvement.  Trainers and coaches can use this information to help tune their on-court strategy.  Front office can use it to determine poor performers who should be traded.  Transparency has its benefits.

Transparency in business has similar benefits, and can help tremendously in aligning the organization with strategic objectives.  In order for scorecards to work, it takes grassroots buy-in.  I am working with an organization now that has a tremendous measurement program, except it is hampered by its data.  I am helping them build the foundation to support their measurement program and therefore the growth and culture of their organization.  I am very excited about this engagement; we are going to use some great agile techniques, including BEAM, to rapidly develop a data warehouse incrementally.

If the government had the same level of transparency, could we have avoided this fiscal cliff and sequestration?  Democracy requires an informed public.  The senators and congressmen are supposed to be our representatives.  Let them know you will be checking their scorecard.  The Balanced Scorecard Institute has provided a most comprehensive page of links to government scorecards.  What gets measured gets attention.  If it isn’t measured, who knows about it?

Let me know what you think.  Until next time, keep thinking good BI thoughts!