I was having lunch with Jack, the executive sponsoring one of the largest ERP implementations I’d ever worked on, when the conversation drifted toward metrics and all things worth measuring.
Back then, I was your metrics guy. My presentations had metrics about metrics.
Somewhere between entrees I actually repeated the old “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” axion.
Jack nodded politely.
“That may be true, Mike. But there may be important things that aren’t easily measured.”
Then he went back to eating and greeting people stopping by the table.
“What could possibly be important that couldn’t be measured?”
Jack looked away for a second, smiled, and casually replied:
“What about trust?”
I’m sure we talked about other things after that.
I just don’t remember any of it.