If you work in consulting (and I do), but all the conversations are about gross margins and sales contests, what does that say about your service?
It says that the service is not worth talking about.
If the awards all go to the person who closed the most deals, rather than the person who created the most value, what will the young account executive think the real goal is around here?
They’ll think it’s all about closing the most deals.
If every chat is about pipeline and profit, you may have a problem.
A problem with focus.
You may not have your eye on the ball. Instead, you have your eye on the scoreboard.
The game is hard enough as it is, even harder when your eye is not on the ball.
“The score never interested me, only the game.”
Mae West
We spend a lot of time watching scoreboards. Looking at numbers, data, margins, spreads, and we forget what we do. We forget why we are here. At some point you need to focus on the work.
The scoreboard is the rear view mirror not the windshield.
Pick your head up, eyes on the horizon.
How do we delight customers?
What more can we do for clients?
Are we missing the mark internally?
Where do we need help from outside?
Can we grow our current partnerships?
What are we trying to accomplish?
What progress are we trying to make?
Talk about the right things and you’ll focus on the right things.
Scoring, not the score.
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