My reading pile has grown and gotten a little out of control in the past few weeks. I promise to dig in more on some of these many developments. However, many of them the continuation of issues/approaches we have discussed before and change still isn’t happening.
The pile includes new information about Shared Value (Porter), Knowledge-Based Capital (OECD), IIRC, Shift Index and Cultures of Purpose (Deloitte), End of Shareholder Value (Drucker Institute). They are all talking about the need to think long term. To fuel innovation, solve the world’s problems and create more sustainable results for companies, regions, countries and the global economy.
All of these assume a different kind of organization and different approaches to management than generally exist today. To me, one of the biggest barriers to achieving these ideals is to give people inside organizations tools that help them see what’s important. Most people recognize that people are important, relationships are important, culture is important, knowledge is important. That innovation is necessary but that it is driven by a different dynamic than the traditional industrial views of top-down strategies and imposed changes by managers.
But most people don’t have a way to show how and why these things are important, how they are linked to the financial and quantitative metrics that dominate most conversations about what’s important inside the organization. In my mind, all of these calls for change and longer-term thinking are calls for a new kind of measurement system. For me, the calls ultimately lead to ICounting.
ICounting focuses on the measures that matter to an organization and its stakeholders. It measures the intangibles like people, knowledge, processes, relationships, culture, reputation and purpose. It reverses the perspective on measuring. Instead of using inside-out quantitative or financial measures, ICounting uses outside-in stakeholder assessments. Putting stakeholders first is one of the ties binding together the calls for long-term thinking. So it’s only natural that key corporate measures should be based on stakeholder feedback.
I believe we are on the cusp of an extraordinary era in human history. That there exists the possibility to drive innovations that solve problems of environment, health, education and create greater shared prosperity. But it’s not going to happen by optimizing quarterly results. Businesses will ultimately make more profits than they ever could have by thinking short term. ICounting is a part of the solution. Join our movement for measures that matter.
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