Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change, Second Edition

by Joseph Grenny

If there’s a chance that the very process of measuring results might drive the wrong behavior, then be sure to faithfully measure the actions you need to produce those results as well. For instance, you want to improve innovation (as measured by the number of new product proposals per quarter), and you have decided that the reason you’re not as innovative as you would like to be is because people aren’t comfortable raising new ideas. You interview employees, and they tell you that they get ridiculed or otherwise punished when they make suggestions, so they clam up. You put together a course that teaches individuals how to speak up in a way that’s heard and makes it safe for others to do the same. Then you track two measures: innovations and instances of speaking up. If both increase (and a control group you measure doesn’t increase), you can then conclude that your efforts are well placed, and you can move ahead with confidence. You know what behaviors to change, and you have a clear understanding of what strategies to implement in order to actually change those behaviors. (We call these actions that lead to important results vital behaviors.)