Leading what you can't measure

"You can't manage what you can't measure." It is a famous maxim. It also quietly assumes that you know everything and have access to all the information.

You don't. Nobody does.

We prefer the known over the unknown, certainty over uncertainty. Predictability feels safe. Yet the most important decisions a leader makes cannot be measured. Your success depends, to a large degree, on your ability and willingness to deal with what is hidden.

What is hidden from a leader

• The real talent. People show their best selves to you. How do you tell real potential from someone who is simply good at pleasing you? And those who could tell you may stay quiet, so as not to look envious.
• The real causes of success and failure. It is easy to credit the wrong factors for a success, and so prepare for a future failure. When something fails, the true root cause is rarely obvious either.
• Filtered information. As a leader you no longer get the same unfiltered picture you had before. It reaches you shaped, softened, sometimes disguised.
• The shape of the work itself. You can never fully see the final form of what you are building. Projects evolve. Much of what I want to do is hidden even to me.

A small toolkit for the unknown

1. Different viewpoints are additive, not competitive. Each perspective, especially a contrasting one, brings you closer to reality. Build a culture where people acknowledge their blind spots, and where those who see problems also see solutions.

2. The past is a teacher, not a master. Deciding only from past data is like driving by looking in the rear-view mirror. We select what we remember and fill in the rest with a story. Our view of the past is hardly clearer than our view of the future.

3. Your mental models are maps, not the territory. How we see the world depends on our inner world. Not being invited to a meeting can feel like a threat when no threat was meant. Look through your models, but take time to look at them too.

4. Honour the viewpoints of others. Simple to say, hard to do. When our models are challenged, we tend to ignore or resist. Confirmation bias pulls us toward what we already believe.

Making the unknown normal

Taking the plunge takes courage, because the payoffs are hidden. Candour, safety, research, self-assessment and protecting the new are all ways to confront the unknown while keeping chaos and fear to a minimum.

The beauty of the future is that it comes one day at a time.

Ask yourself: What is one step I can take this week to lead a little better in the face of what I cannot measure?