Survival Metrics - Getting Change Done In A Fast, Politically Safe, Data Informed Way

Survival Metrics - Getting Change Done In A Fast, Politically Safe, Data Informed Way

PDMA St. Louis | September 14, 2021

Do you know when you should pivot? What about your ideas, are they being listened to? In fact, even when you are proven right after a horrible launch, do you have that sinking feeling that everyone knew this was a bomb, but just didn’t know how to say it?

Being a change agent in an organization, especially one where a product is in flight, is hard. While teams may be happy to talk about strategy and even know what it looks like, the idea of understanding when something fails and HOW to move forward when it does escapes teams. There isn’t a shared language that helps them figure this out.

This leaves teams holding their ideas close to the chest. Their fear: an unsure political environment and unclear data will make their insight useless. This leads to “business as usual,” where everyone smiles on Zoom even while initiatives are headed to disaster.

Enter Survival Metrics, a framework that helps teams use what's important to the company (think - “values”) and operationalize them as metrics that make change much easier. In effect, teams get a dashboard-like artifact that is understandable to various teams inside of your organization. This helps clarify action steps, makes values very clear, and surface incentives that help teams pivot in a fast, politically safe, and data informed way.


About the Presenter

Adam Thomas

Adam Thomas is a technologist in Harlem NY focused on strategy, team organization, and product management.He has spent the last fifteen years in tech spaces building products. To do so, he mixes “hard” topics with context from culture and behavioral psychology.







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