what gets measured is what gets done…proof!

I love to say this (what gets measured is what gets done) at work and I totally believe it! I learned the lesson while working as a manager in a start up call center in the mid-90s.  My life above 8 mile in the Detroit area was a time where I was learning sooo much so fast and loving it. We moved order entry from facilities all over the country (and Canada) to two centralized facilities.  The call center gave us so many ways to measure performance, one was the number of calls the service reps took, another column on the daily report was short calls- they were hang-ups.  Sure enough one employee was reaching her goal to take the x number of calls, the problem she had an unbelievably high number of short calls- she was hanging up on people.   Of course there were many more lessons associated with this certain situation- training needs, coaching, accountability in our self-directed work environment but the point about what is measured stayed with me.  Fast forward to my life on Newark-Granville Road and my observation from our holiday break and what is happening here.

Football- football is what is being measured and embraced on Newark-Granville Road.  It hit me when I went to work today and I was sooo happy to hear the a news show.   I realized the majority of TV time in our home the past few weeks- football.  Joe put Peter in charge of our college football bowl pool.  We all got sheets of paper with the schedule, we circled our predicted winners and turned them in…I don't even think we agreed to a prize?!   All of a sudden we all start talking about football, caring about what games have been on when and what the results of the games were/are.  This happened before Xmas and has continued….I've even been pulled in- I watched the Rose Bowl for the football game between two teams I don't pay that much attention to- I'm not being negative. I've been to Michigan State- lovely campus, have friends who love them, attended the school and thanks to facebook I knew some were there!  Stanford is a gorgeous campus and college that fascinates me- but for me to really pay attention like that- fascinating to me.  And for all 5 of us to be so engaged- interesting.  The blog is about the "why" as I love the why in life- it matches my MBTI preference and this football behavior had to have a why.  Again I'm not being negative- there are lots of positives associated.  It has led to fun conversation about colleges, how you select-we love to visit campus on our trips.  I actually have a lot of colleges I cheer for- Nebraska, Penn State, OSU- knowing this you understand why I didn't select any Florida teams- sorry brother Matthew living so close to Central Florida- and no I couldn't do it- I was footballed out last night and went to bed.  We've seen some great football and fun commercials- the Chick-fil-A Bowl- Duke vs Texas A&M great example.  We stopped at Duke this summer, we all know know what the A (agriculture) and M (mechanics) represent from the schools history, and it was a great game!

So that is what has been happening in my life on Newark-Granville Road. If you are interested current standings:  Sally is leading by 2 games, Peter and I are tied for 2nd behind by 2, Clare is 3rd and Joe is last.  Joe wants you to know he is doing much better in the work pool.  We'll let you know what happens when this all wraps up on January 6th- go Tigers- maybe we'll make Sally a blue and orange cake.