The One Hour Plan for Growth: How a Single Sheet of Paper Can Take Your Business to The Next Level

Chapter 6. Objectives

How Will You Measure Success? (7 minutes)

Too often we measure everything and understand nothing. The three most important things you need to measure in a business are customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and cash flow.

—Jack Welch, Former Chairman and CEO, General Electric

Picking the right numbers to track for your business is one of the most important decisions you can make. People do what gets measured.

—Michael LeBoeuf, PhD, Author and Consultant

Management by objectives works if you first think through your objectives. 90% of the time you haven't.

—Peter Drucker, Father of Modern Management

Note

Objectives are measures of your success and organizational performance.

Growth-focused objectives include customer measures, employee measures, and financial measures.

Greed Is (Not) Good!

For many, the purpose of business is deeply misunderstood. Think about the character Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street, who said, "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies. Cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms—has marked the upward surge of mankind." Gordon's immoral thinking led to his dishonest actions and lousy results. Like Bernie Madoff, he ended up in jail.

Years ago, I asked Lee Wagy, an extraordinary McDonald's franchisee how he helped his teenage workers become such outstanding employees. He explained, "I teach them enlightened self-interest. The better they serve ...