On a dreary November morning, sore throat and sore body, from a heavy week of coaching and consulting, I prep for a conference call with international colleagues laced with a mismatched feeling of gladness. After two solid hours of professional shop talk and personal sharing, I come away with mixed emotions.
As an entrepreneur, I have recently found myself always questioning my impact by what is being measured. Is the program I’ve designed going to derive a return on investment? Is my positive intention going to help people grow healthier and happier? Are my risky efforts worthy of reward? After the phone call, I left immediately unsettled, slightly discouraged by the review of past results, but yet again, a mismatched feeling, a hopefulness for the future.
At the unlikeliest of times, my Ironman mind jumps in to set counter arguments to any naysaying, as a form of self-preservation and adaptability. I end up in a rabbit hole of inner dialogue, conflicted by what people define as success, and then by how people measure 'growth' and equate it to success. I end up at a fork in the road between two colossal destinations: success versus significance.
As I tread deeper into the waters of conventional business, acronyms such as: ROIs (return on investment, KPIs (key performance indicators), ROO (return on objective), CPL (cost per lead), ROE (return on event), CRO (conversion rate optimization), all provide objective data on a company’s growth and ‘success’, but my inquisitive Ironman mind can’t help but question the definition of ‘success’, and put it up against what has been my life’s focus, the measure of significance.
As I miss targets, sink a few sales, and ghost on some leads, I can’t help but question my business acumen, entrepreneurial service, and sometimes, when really vulnerable, I question my self-worth.
But knowing my inner warrior philosopher, I manage to flip the switch and remember the law of opposites. The answers of one side of the coin always elicit questions from the other side of the coin.
As some enjoy quantity as a measure of growth, some enjoy quality. Take the human: Height, Weight, IQ tests, Instagram Followers, etc., are all objective measurements of 'growth'. To only define a human's growth potential by these metrics that are seen seems very limiting and reductive.
The unseen, the unspoken, the uncertainties, and the unknowns are factors that also grow us as human beings. So big question then, how do we measure growth when considering the immensity of the immeasurable?
We cannot deny that the measurement of growth and success through numbers is point blank necessary. It’s the tip of the iceberg. But what lies below the tip is where growth should truly be measured. The strength of a tree lies in its roots. The precision of politics lies in its positioning. The magnitude of marketing lies in its deeper meaning. The power of passion lies in its purpose.
I pick my entrepreneurial self up from self-deprecation and defend my impact by what isn’t being measured. There is an iceberg of greatness that people simply can’t measure from the surface.
Starting a new business, signing up for a race, seeking therapy, these are all activities that force us to go out on a limb. The courage to do so comes from our self confidence. And that self-confidence stems from our competencies and certainties. We start these risky journeys out of a desire to shake things up. We’ve reached a level of comfort and certainty, that life becomes a bit bland or what’s routine is simply not rewarding anymore. So we commit to new journeys out of our yearning for growth. What entices us is the unknown, the uncertainty, the unpredictability. Is there a happy medium where growth can play at its peak with a balance of certainty and uncertainty? I believe our growth needs both, and therefore an effective means to measure it.
In business innovation, striking a balance between feasibility - the ability to be functional, viability - the ability to be self-sustainable, and desirability - the ability to be marketable, is the recipe for ‘success’, but as I more deeply consider growth, success seems like a stopping point. How do we elevate our approaches to growth measurement to consider ‘significance’? Things like respect, trust, connection, love, friendship, knowing, influence, power, faith, etc.
I believe we can create better tools to help us measure both quantity and quality. I believe we can refine our definition of success and growth to a blend of statistics and significance. I foresee our world shifting beyond the binary, beyond the need to measure the microscopic data set and the anecdotal survey series, beyond the wins and losses.
By first measuring growth by merit and meaning, we enable the entrepreneurs of the world to explore new frontiers, not in fear of delivering a KPI or ROI, but in the pursuit of delivering significance.
