Closing the Intelligence Gap - Gary Cokins on Performance Management

If you read my earliest writings about Performance Management back to 2002 (including my book), I passionately argue that its perception is far too narrow. Many see it as a bunch of dashboard dials with better financial reporting. It was also viewed as CFO tools. It is so much broader.

It is thrilling when I read other writers who view enterprise performance management as ranging from suppliers through the organization, including customers. It is the end-to-end value chain with many decisions occurring every minute, hour and day. Dan Woods, the chief technology officer of Evolved Media, wrote such an article titled "Peaking Performance" that appeared on Forbes.com’s website. In the article Dan states:

“The art and science of running your business based on the newly available flood of data is the practice of Performance Management…The modern practice of performance management has replaced this outmoded process (of historical, transactional data) with the equivalent of a corporate nervous system that shows what is happening right now in a company and can avert problems in the future…The old model of the enterprise was purely financial, focused on costs. The new model is multi-dimensional -- both financial and operational -- and focuses on profitability…The progress in implementing a strategy can be tracked month to month or week to week. If a roadblock is found, the problem can be communicated back up to the boardroom and the strategy can be tweaked and adjusted…Forecasts can be (frequently) updated from inputs that reflect activity from past experience rather than a guess at what you can achieve…While it is rare to find all of these capabilities in one company, the best companies aggressively adopt techniques that provide the most insight and create the most value. You can't run a business if you have to assemble information every time you ask a question. ”

Dan said it well. As time passes more executives, managers and employee teams will see what Dan Woods sees. Enterprise performance management is about analysis and decision making, not just better reporting.