Executive Career Growth Metrics
5  steps to mitigate McNamara Fallacy  ‼️

⏺ Executive Career Growth follows  structured path in most corporates.

⏺  ‘Management by Objectives’ (MBO) popularized by Peter Drucker in 1954, has long gone out of fashion.

⏺ Yet, setting & tracking OKRs (Objectives & Key Results) along similar lines is quite prevalent, even in today’s evolving VUCA world.

⏺ Often this falls into a trap,
called ‘McNamara fallacy’.

⏺ This is about making decisions based only on numbers, ignoring all other factors.

⏺ E. g. Changing consumer behavior, technology strides & agile Ways of Working.

⏺ Downside of McNamara system is: it measures what’s easy,
ignores what’s difficult, & assumes latter isn’t important.

♦5 ways Companies can mitigate this risk to boost more holistic career development.

♦1. Include Qualitative Aspects

➡️ Instead of just setting OKR to increase sales by 20%, add key result “to improve customer sales NPS scores by 10%”

➡️ Qualitative aspects help focus on the ‘what else’.

♦2. Use Mixed Methods:

➡️ OKR to improve productivity could include  results like “conduct bi-annual employee satisfaction surveys, & achieve average rating of 3/4 out of 5.” 

♦3. Acknowledge Limitations of Metrics

➡️ Pure Numbers often fail to tell the whole story.

➡️ E. g. OKR to boost website traffic may include results like “increase the average time spent on the website by 15%”.

♦4. Think Long-Term

➡️ Instead of  focusing on short-term sales,  OKRs might include “develop customer loyalty program & increase repeat purchases by 25% over next one year.”

♦5. Involve Different Perspectives:

➡️ Involve team members, as well as those from other teams, to get broader perspectives.

➡️ E. g. OKRs for product development could include inputs from sales, customer service, R&D.

 Implication for #Recruitment & #jobsearch

 Recruitment

➡️ Hiring managers would do well to consider above perspectives, when assessing achievements of applicants to determine their suitability.

➡️ Job Search

➡️ As a corollary, job aspirants on their #jobsearch journey could also better their chances, by adding these nuances to the stories they use at the #interview to showcase their credibility.

✅ Would love to hear your perspectives & experiences in the comments below.

#jobsearch   #career  #interview
#skillgrill