Podcast
I know RuPaul was talking about models when he said, “You better work!” but really, he should have been talking about data. I know lots of businesses that have gone to the effort to collect data but then fail to use it. That’s like taking the time to get the hair and makeup done, getting…
I clearly remember a sign on an executive’s desk in a tiny 12-person company I worked for. It said, “Nothing happens until someone sells something.” Obviously, he was a sales exec, but there was definitely truth in the statement. The same kind of statement is true about data: Nothing better happens until you use your…
When you started your business, you probably didn’t think so much about the mechanics behind the scenes. But the truth is that analytics drive what you do and how you do it. And probably even why you do it. My Origin of Analytics My parents opened a restaurant the year I was born. But not…
In exploring the simple machine of technology, I look back to when my parents owned a restaurant. Naturally, my first job was doing data entry for my Dad. He had written the computer programs to process and analyze the sales and labor data for his restaurant. But in order for those to work, the numbers…
I spent the first four years of my business half-ass attempting to implement everyone else’s systems—and it sucked. Late nights, money stress, racing to meet deadlines, and having zero confidence about everything because it felt like I was doing it all for the first time. I definitely was not being a smart business professional in…
In this episode, we’re discussing the final step to Discovering the Metrics that Matter: Surfacing the information to the organization. If you’ve been following along in the last four episodes, we’ve broken down the first four steps of clarifying the metrics you actually care about. It starts with step 1, having a clear, specific goal…
In this episode we’re digging into how to Step 4 of Measuring the Metrics that Matter: how to track data for those metrics and getting into leading indicators. In the past 3 Episodes we walked through the first 3 steps: LISTEN SEASON 4: EPISODE 6 Now that you know what you want to do, when…
In our journey to clarify the metrics you truly value, you’ve set your goals and defined their completion. Now, in this episode, we are covering step 3, which is making a list of leading indicators for that goal. That is, what actions are taken in pursuit of getting it “done”? LISTEN SEASON 4: EPISODE 5 If…
In the last episode we covered how to start setting some mile markers so you can more easily see where and how you are making progress, decoded KPIs and laid out step 1 of finding metrics that matter, and that was to set goals. Now for continuous improvement, step 2 is defining the finish line…
When working on operational improvements and business optimization, it really helps to set yourself some mile markers so you can more easily see where and how you are making progress. In business lingo, these are called KPIs, which stand for Key Performance Indicators. LISTEN SEASON 4: EPISODE 3 If we remember what this acronym stands…