You Attract What You Measure
By Silver Rose
You Attract What You Measure
Another way to describe how Law of Attraction works is to say, “You get what you measure.” And the words to describe what you are measuring DO matter.
I do a good deal of work in the area of employment and retention. I do NOT work in the areas of unemployment and job turnover. Why would I want to measure something we are trying to resolve? A few years ago, I spoke at a conference in Arizona. Someone there told me that unemployment on the American Indian reservations is excessive – way over the 50% mark. When I said, “Perhaps you’re measuring the wrong thing,” he looked confused and asked what I meant. “Perhaps,” I suggested, “you would do better to focus on how many are employed. Wouldn’t you rather that figure increase?” He laughed ruefully and said, “Maybe you are right.”
When I coach managers and supervisors, I focus their attention on how they measure the performance of their department as a whole and their staff individually. There is nothing more unfair to an employee than for him/her not to know how their performance is being measured. It’s not enough to ask employees to improve on “teamwork,” for example. How will that employee know when that goal has been fulfilled? How is teamwork specifically measured? If the supervisor cannot answer that question then the employee is being set up for failure and problems begin.
On the flip side of that, employees can and should insist on specific measurements for their jobs. “How is my performance measured?” is a question every employee must be able to answer if s/he wants to succeed.
Because we are in the midst of the National Basketball Association Playoffs, I have been considering how this works in professional sports, all of which are businesses with many employees. Each of those employees, whether it’s the general manager, the head coach, the other coaches or the players, all understand how they are measured. They are measured by how profitable the franchise is and what their contribution was to make it profitable.
For players, this translates into all the stats you hear announcers discussing as the game is played. Some players rarely score but are credited with “assists” which cause someone ELSE on the team to score. Others have the job of preventing the opposing team from scoring. The coach of course is measured by wins/losses.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that the players who either score the most points or make the biggest contribution to the team’s success end up making the most money. They are more valuable to the team. No one in the NBA ever got a raise because of seniority or because they “worked hard.” They either produce the results or they’re out. Put that way, it seems harsh. Aren’t you glad you’re not playing in THAT arena?
You are, however, playing in a similar arena and, if you want to improve your particular “game,” measuring your results is the fastest way to get really good at what you do.
Too many of us measure ourselves against whether or not we are working hard.
If you went to a dentist who botched a filling, would you want to hear her say, “But I worked really hard to get it right!” ??? I doubt it. You’d be totally focused on the fact that you experienced unnecessary pain because of the work she did.
What are you measuring each day? If you’re measuring how hard you’re working, you are guaranteed to have to work very hard each day. Remember, you attract what you measure.
If you keep reminding yourself how much work you DON’T have done, guess what you’ll get more of?
If, on the other hand, you begin measuring yourself against how many pre-determined results you’ve achieved, you’ll be more successful and won’t have to work nearly as hard.
Have fun with this! (And measure for that, too!)
