Hack:
The traps of the balance scorecard

The business simulation was very realistic: We were given at the beginning 3-year performance objectives by the board of Directors in terms of revenues growth, profit margins and employee satisfaction. The simulation was context-dependent and every year was bringing new market challenges with new performance objectives. We had plenty of levers we could play with: production ones, portfolio ones, sales and marketing ones, HR ones, internal initiatives to improve company performance in various areas. At the end of every year we had a performance review with the board to discuss strengths and weaknesses of the past year and priorities for the next one.
Overall, I did just a decent job as a Fortune 100 CEO, I'm not quite there yet :D I hit the profit objectives, missed my employee satisfaction one but only by a very little ;-) and missed my revenues growth objectives BIG TIME...
However, now that time has passed, I thought it would be interesting to look back and understand what was my behaviour during that game. In essence, did I fall in the trap of trying to achieve the numbers and if that was the case, is it likely to happen to a real Fortune 100 CEO, who is very often using the Balance Scorecard to track company performance? The reality is that you indeed become driven by the numbers because there is so much complexity, so much levers you can play with that you rely on them to drive your actions hoping that they tell the right story and that your actions or decisions will have the expected impact. That said, how much time do we spend understanding the real consequences of our decisions and actions beyond their impact on our Key Performance Indicators (KPI's)? If the honnest answer is very little, isn't there a disconnect with how we would really like to contribute? I was reading an article the other day where most interviewed managers were claiming that they would like to be remembered for their contribution to society and wellness in general, not much for having consistently hit the numbers, month after month, quarter after quarter, year after year. If that is true, why are we so much number driven? What actions do we need to take to redefine the right balance between qualitative and quantitative KPI's? A manager told me once: "Life begins at 100%". I do not remember being born at... 100%. Shall I dare to say that... the numbers speak by themselves? ;-)