When metrics are hard (you need a pep talk)
by Nan Patience
How do you feel
when you check your metrics?
My dashboards today may not have inspired confidence, but they did inspire this blog post.
I looked at some metrics today, and they weren’t great. My insecurities got triggered, and I had to give myself a pep talk. So I’m taking the opportunity to give you a pep talk, too.
You know, all those dashboards that companies give us with our accounts? The histories and transactions — all the pretty little pieces of data moving through time — activities, views, clicks, sales, likes, follows, etc. The charts, the tables in red and black, the greens and the blues…
Checking metrics can sometimes take a toll on us emotionally, especially at the start, when numbers are zeroes and ones.
With any brand new project, we are going to start with nothing across the board. Zero. Zilch. I've done this a few times. Even successful projects start with nothing but ideas.
That’s what we do, we make something out of nothing. We build from there.
That long period of zeroes and single digits can be agonizing. The work is harder and takes longer than expected. We worry what people will think. We worry that our ideas are dumb.
We care so much what other people think, but what we find out that literally no one is thinking about us at all because people are so caught up in their own lives.
No one cares?
There is the phrase going around: “No one cares.” This is sort of true. People do care about us a little, but not about our weird little creative projects. The fact that no one cares and that no one is paying any attention to us is both devastating and liberating.
If it was easier, more people would be doing it, right? Mental toughness and patience through this tough startup stage is the barrier to entry.
Two pieces of advice
1. lower you expectations about the outcome when you log onto dashboards to check the numbers.
2. Don’t check metrics too often. Compulsively checking is not helpful. Once a week is plenty.
We get so caught up in the nice charts, the lists, the stats. If it’s a scrolling platform, you may be tempted to spend a lot of precious time scrolling, emoting, and oversharing.
Our expectations are too high. It causes undue stress and unhappiness.
We underestimate how hard it will be and how long it will take.
Sure, there are lessons to be learned, problems to be solved, in every aspect of every little thing we do, including opportunities to get better. So what if there are things we can improve on? We don’t have to fall to pieces when metrics aren’t showing the progress we want right away.
Look for the glimmers of hope and interesting trends in your metrics, and you will find them. Try giving yourself a little credit for a change.
Low numbers aren’t personal. They’re not a character flaw or a moral failing. There’s room for improvement, though, if we’re willing to face up to it.
Signs of life?
What does everyone say to us when we’re on the struggle bus?
“Hang in there”
“Never quit”
“Keep going”
“You got this!”
If we do what they say, we start to get signs of life showing up on our dashboards. It may take time, blood, sweat and tears, but it happens!
With hard work, some smarts, and a lot of luck, the blips may turn into jagged up and down lines over time.
Maybe the lines show trends of growth over time.
What really matters
Here’s a thought: the dashboard metrics we get so hung up on may or may not matter to our mortal souls in the end.
In fact, chasing certain metrics can make us feel unwell. Studies show bad mental health impacts for literally everyone, but especially secular liberals of all ages.
Hit especially hard are women, and especially young women and girls. So much so that you now have municipalities suing big social media companies for causing so much the trouble. Apparently, we’re getting played.
Here I am nevertheless, a ringmaster in my own delusional media circus. Blog and all!
So that’s the situation we find ourselves in.
Payoff? is that all that matters?…
At the end of the day, the companies that are so kindly showing us our metrics are only thinking about one thing: the payoff.
And payoff is great, because grown ups have to make a living in this world. But is it really the be-all and end-all? Will there be no payoff without surrendering our freedoms for consistency?
If it’s payoff we want, we only need to follow the platform metrics. The analytics sections can be very helpful in that regard.
Here’s a partial list of some other key metrics that aren’t being measured on the digital dashboards that we put so much stock in.
What else is there?
Besides payoff, could there be other metrics in our lives that are also important?
At the end of our lives, what metrics will have turned out to be important?
Have you seen the interviews people are doing with elderly people asking them what they advise, what they regret. (You have to take these with a grain of salt because these people are not you and they’re not me, however…)
What older people would tell their younger selves or young people today, they always say:
to not worry too much
be brave
have fun
follow your curiosity
don’t work too hard
spend more time with friends and loved ones
be honest
be true to yourself
be kind
Plus
No one says,
“I wished I would have worked harder.”
“I wish I would have been more consistent though.”
Where are the dashboards for these other important things that the wise older folks mention?
Where’s the fun-o-meter?
How do we measure these other important things in life?
the satisfaction we get from trying new things, learning, and projects well done
the happiness, health and wellbeing of ourselves and our loved ones, friends, neighbors, communities and beyond
resources left for future generations
our impacts on the planet
our impacts on others, including all species, around the globe
time to think
time to do absolutely nothing
Ok, you’re right, enough!
How are we measuring things like these? Are there dashboards for that?
Maybe my shortcomings on corporate dashboards would look a lot better on my own control panel?
Beware the tyranny of the metrics, friends!