Measures of Success shows leaders how to separate signal from noise in their data — so you can stop chasing every fluctuation and start making confident decisions.
STOP REACTING TO NOISE.
START RESPONDING TO SIGNALS.
Measures of Success shows business leaders how
Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More
Whether you’re in healthcare, manufacturing, software, or services, this book gives you tools to distinguish signal from noise and lead with greater calm, clarity, and focus.
A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR HOW TO MANAGE YOUR METRICS
Every organization depends on metrics. The question is whether those metrics are helping people do the right things — or encouraging them to overreact to every uptick, downturn, and change.
In other words, reacting to noise.
Every metric contains noise. But it’s our reaction to noise that causes waste and stress — and too often, people don’t recognize this.
Like feeling stuck on a rollercoaster you no longer enjoy.
We spend time doing and explaining things that don’t help us improve — at the cost of doing things that do.
Measures of Success shows a better way to chart and manage your metrics. You’ll learn what’s working, what’s not, and what to change — and just as important, when to leave things alone.
So you can…
Respond to what matters — systematically and sustainably.
Learn how to identify meaningful signals in a metric — and respond just right.
Or perhaps, not at all.
You’ll learn how with methods that are easy to understand, making it obvious what activities to do next. Loads of vivid stories and clear examples from healthcare, software companies, and more. With compelling case studies from the news and personal lives, too.
“What gets measured gets managed.“
We’ve all heard that. But did you ever learn how to manage a metric? This ain’t about gaming the system or fudging the numbers. This is about delivering real value, understood by everyone, and proven with data.
Learn a better way to manage your measures.
AFTER READING MEASURES OF SUCCESS
…you’ll be able to answer three critical questions for your business.
1) Are we achieving our target?
And, how often? Occasionally? Consistently?
2) Are we improving?
And, can we predict our future performance?
3) How do we improve?
And, when do we react? When do we ignore? When do we improve?
…AND HOW CAN WE PROVE WE’RE IMPROVING?
How would you feel if you could answer these questions for your business?
Measures of Success shows you how.
PRAISE FOR “MEASURES OF SUCCESS”
Zeynep Ton
, Author of The Good Jobs Strategy
Eric Ries
“By combining a range of case studies and stories across industries, including many from his own personal experience, with detailed, clear explanations of what Process Behavior Charts are and why they’re so effective for managing data, Mark Graban has written a readable, informative book to guide any leader who wants to help an organization achieve true and lasting success. Improvement has been made easier thanks to his work.”
HI. I’M MARK GRABAN.
I help people across industries improve their processes and results—by focusing on what truly works. My approach is grounded in Lean thinking, guided by math and science, and supported by data—not opinions or gut feelings.
I teach leaders how to turn metrics and charts into insight—and insight into meaningful, lasting improvement. That’s why I wrote Measures of Success—to help you react less, lead better, and improve more.
Helping businesses convert data into insights
Other Lean books by Mark: Lean Hospitals, Healthcare Kaizen, Practicing Lean
See my website MarkGraban.com
WHO IS MEASURES OF SUCCESS FOR?
This book is for leaders and teams who rely on metrics, prefer data over gut feelings, and are tired of chasing every fluctuation.
Ideal for professionals in:
- Healthcare
- Manufacturing
- Technology & Software
- Government & Public Service
- Startups and Small Business
TO BE CLEAR
Measures of Success is not for leaders who’d rather give orders. Then, blame others when things go south. That whole hit the target or else thing… won’t create real change, nor real value. But that ain’t you, right?
PROCESS BEHAVIOR CHARTS
The book teaches you Process Behavior Charts — a proven, simple method for filtering noise out of your data so you can see what actually changed. No statistics background required.
THIS BOOK IS DIFFERENT
Measures of Success is a book for business leaders. Although it’s based on statistical methods, anyone will understand how to use these charts.
No reason to feel intimidated — this ain’t calculus, nor rocket science, either.
Learn to respond versus react to changes in metrics. Have better conversations, creating better outcomes. Backed by numbers over opinions. And…
Prove it all. Visually. In seconds.
With charts and other visuals to show, rather than tell.
REACT LESS. LEAD BETTER. IMPROVE MORE.
Key takeaways for Measures of Success.
- Don’t manage the metric. Do manage the work. Metrics are the result of your work. Improving work improves results.
- Two data points are not a trend. Three? Four? Not usually. A dozen or more? You betcha.
- Fluctuations occur for every metric. Process behavior charts show what to respond to, and what to ignore.
Want to react less, lead better, and improve more with a better story for your organization? Who wouldn’t, right?
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Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all. The method is straightforward, and the book walks you through it step by step. If you can plot points on a chart, you can do this.
No. The examples span healthcare, manufacturing, software, startups, and government. The method works anywhere people use metrics to make decisions.
Absolutely. Many readers teach these methods to their teams. The charts create a shared, visual language for discussing performance — which tends to replace opinion-driven debates with better conversations.