Today I learned something. And that is worth the price of this book!
David Parmenter opens the book showing how we often confuse results, with actions that we need to take to get those results. He shows an onion and Key Result Indicators (KRIs) being the outer most layer of that onion. This is what we see as the end result in a company - Customer Satisfaction, Financial Results in terms of Profits, etc. The next layers inside are the Result Indicators (RIs) and Performance Indicators (PIs). Performance Indicators are like % Increase in Sales with say top 10 Customers. Result Indicators are like Sales done Yesterday. David then makes the key distinction that only some are Key Performance Indicators that drive the whole company outwards from the core of the onion! These are the ones you need to monitor closely on a daily, weekly, monthly basis as appropriate but they cause the other indicators to have positive or negative values.
The example he uses is that of a British Airways CEO who always called the relevant British Airways people at the airport EVERYTIME a flight left late. That kept the BA personnel on their toes making sure the planes left on time all the time! Now every Performance Indicator, Result Indicator and Key Results Indicator downstream like On Time Record, Sales Per Flight and Customer Satisfaction Index were all exemplary!
David also talks about a very useful 10/80/10 rule that says KPIs should only be 10% of all the metrics. Result Indicators and Performance Indicators make up 80% and Key Result Indicators 10%. This enables management at different levels pay attention to those that are relevant and urgent on a daily basis (KPIs) so that all downstream results and indicators are on track.
There is also an elaborate 12 step implementation process on how to plan for, implement and fine tune a KPI measurement regimen.
The best illustration I liked was that of a Dial Chart on page 171 that provided at a glance a lot of information - Performance Indicator on a Speedometer where you can see current performance value, Best Performance so far as a dot on the meter, worst performance as a dot, acceptable, middle and unacceptable ranges of performance all in the same speedometer! In one glance you know where your current performance stands. That should be the goal of visualizations - all information in one place at the same time!
I will never think about KPIs the same way again! Very useful, illuminating book!