Measures are categorized on the basis of what question they answer.

(The following posting is taken from an email response to a set of questions, shown below as the first “comment.”)

Yes, the upper right quadrant "How well did we do it" category can contain measures about customers. Consider the measures % of classes delivered on time and % of customers who say classes were delivered on time. They are almost identical measures. Customer data can often tell us how well services were delivered (How well did we do it?). The fundamental question to ask when thinking about whether a customer measure is upper or lower right quadrant is this: Could we do well on this measure and customers might still not be better off? For example, the % of customers who think the class is delivered on time is 95%. But the class itself is terrible and no one learns anything.

This same principle is illustrated by how we categorize the completion rate for a service or training course. The mere completion of a service or training course usually tells us little or nothing about whether people got anything positive out of it. So % of clients completing service or training is usually an upper right quadrant measure. But there are exceptions to this rule. If the training has an established reputation for giving its students new skills, then completion can be a lower right quadrant measure. Life saving courses, where earning a certificate really means something, is a good example.

This principle can be carried further to the general question of how to classify different measures of customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction measures fall into two broad categories: Did we treat you well? and Did we help you with your problems? Customers can say they were treated well, that they liked the counselor, thought the building was comfortable, accessible etc. but still not be helped with their problems. So "Did we treat you well" is an upper right measure and "Did we help you with your problems" is lower right.

The deepest underlying principle here is that measures are classified not on the basis of some intrinsic characteristic of the measure, but rather on the basis of what question the measure helps to answer. If measures help answer How well did we do it? they go in the upper right quadrant. If measures help answer Is anyone better off? they in the lower right. If they could conceivably answer both questions, then pick the stronger answer, or as a last resort put it in both places. This same principle applies to the difference between population indicators and performance measures. Sometimes a given measure can play both roles, so that sometimes it serves as a performance measure, and sometimes as an indicator.

I would encourage you to read Chapter 4 (especially pages 65 to 79 and 99) of "Trying Hard Is Not Good Enough" where these matters are discussed. There can sometimes be legitimate differences of opinion about how to categorize a measure. When this happens, just put is somewhere and move on. Because all the measures in both upper right and lower right quadrants will be considered in Step 4 of the 5 step process for identifying the most important performance measures (See Appendix G).

Finally, the reference to "circumstance" is specifically about the client or customer's circumstance. Are they in stable housing?. Do they have a living wage job? It is not about a more general definition of circumstances. For this reason it always goes in the lower right quadrant?


Mark

Creating Results Culture Change

People talk about culture change the way they talk about magic. We know this wonderful transformation is needed and will somehow happen, but we're not sure how.

Let's take a shot at a definition of organizational culture. Organizational culture is the range of accepted norms of for what people in an organization think and how they act. An organization might have a dominant culture and numerous subcultures. Subcultures might vary by program, profession, or organizational role. Organizational culture also includes a story line or mythology about why the norms exist the way they do.

Culture change then is any significant variation in or deviation from organizational culture or subculture. Culture change can be positive or negative. Sustained culture change is any culture change that survives some defined degree of turnover in key positions. It is worth noting that culture change is not a smooth transition. There are holdouts. Some parts of the organization go ahead of others. Some people never get it.

It is arguable that there are three elements needed for culture change to take place. This is a kind of hypothesis that might be tested with regard to creating a results culture.

1. Leadership: No culture change happens without leadership. It may be possible to talk about the evolution of organizational culture without leadership direction. But any form of deliberate change requires leadership.

2. Vision and small steps: Culture change requires the odd combination of vision and small steps. First, a vision of what the organization culture should be, that is a picture of destination. Deliberate or directed change also requires a well defined series of small steps that can begin the process and move it forward. Massive overhauls are often not practical and usually don't work. So culture change requires a pathway of small steps that lead to bigger change. One guide to these small steps is the RBA Self Assessment Questionnaire new version (available on resultsaccountability.com). Start with one supervisor identifying and using performance measures. Then two supervisors, and so forth. After the accumulation of enough small steps, it is possible to reach a tipping point where change happens much more rapidly. It is worth noting here that among the seemingly small steps to take is the change in forms and formats for strategic plans, budgets, RFP's and contracts. Forms are the skeleton of any organizations culture. They can live for decades. And if you can change them the change can last for decades.

3. Finally, feedback. Any change process requires a feedback loop to see if you are making progress. Two types of feedback are needed. Information is needed on the extent of implementation. One can use the RBA Self Assessment Questionnaire to calculate a score on the extent of implementation. The second type of feedback is on whether curves are turning on key measures.