Data Core · KPI management · Module
Targets and thresholds
What good looks like, at what level, and what happens when the reading crosses it — because a measure with no threshold produces observation rather than action.
The idea
How it works
A target without a basis is a number someone was comfortable with. Derived from capability, from a benchmark or from what the plan requires, it becomes arguable and therefore useful.
Most reactions to measures are reactions to noise. Knowing the normal variation of a measure is what allows a genuine change to be distinguished from an ordinary fluctuation.
Working with it
In practice
- 01
State where the target came from
Capability, benchmark or plan requirement. A target with no derivation is negotiated rather than set.
- 02
Establish normal variation first
How much the measure moves when nothing has changed. Anything inside that band is not news.
- 03
Attach an action to the threshold
What happens when it is crossed, and who does it. A threshold with no action is a colour on a dashboard.
- 04
Beware the incentive
A target with consequences will be met, sometimes by means nobody intended. Ask how it could be met dishonestly before setting it.
One level in
The components of targets and thresholds
A component is something that exists afterwards which did not exist before — a deliverable or a mechanism, not an intention.
Ask how the target could be met dishonestly before setting it. Someone will eventually find that answer.
The other modules in kpi management
Choosing what to measure
Narrowing to the few measures the organisation is actually run on, balanced across what matters rather than across what is easy to collect.
LearnDefinitions
What each measure means precisely enough that two people calculating it independently get the same answer.
LearnThe review
The rhythm in which measures are actually read and something is decided — because where the review is presentation, the whole measurement effort is decorative.
Learn