After going to a Chinwag meeting, when? was it two weeks ago now, I see another blog on metrics and social media.  I certainly don’t want to discourage measuring.   It’s always instructive.  And I love those Exclesius dashboards.  Cute as can be.

Metrics shouldn’t be boring though.  Let me explain.

You are flying along in one of those long haul airliners, and you bravely (in my opinion) have a look at the map telling you how far you have come and how far you have to go.  This is important stuff if you are the navigator and need to check the fuel (why are they doing that when there is sea in every direction) or you need to confirm your position with air traffic control (don’t they have radar and GPS?  OK I understand in some parts of the world the comms systems are sparse).  OK you are really brave to be looking at that map.  It is a copycat map.

It looks like a metric but it isn’t one.

What is interesting is what you might learn from the map.   I once learned that in crossing the Indian Ocean we loop down to the Antartic.   That improved my geography after all.  I am not sure that it was directly useful, but my geography is dreadful and any improvement must have some value.

Flying the other way, I learned about the wind patterns over New Zealand.  When you approach Christchurch (on the South Island) from the Australia in the west, you fly over the Southern Alps.  It is bumpy for a start, so buckle up - you can be thrown out of your chair.  Then depending on the wind, the pilots loop seem to loop down and in come in from the south on the long runway into the prevailing east wind.  Or alternatively, they fly over the town and turn back to fly into the famous ‘nor wester’ coming down off the mountains.

None of this gets me home faster.  Actually it matters not a damn if we arrive early or late.   What will be will be.  We still have to disembark, clear immigration, MAF (the dribbling beagles) and XRay machines, and customs.  Nothing I do and no information makes that faster or better.  It just is.  Chill!

So what with the metrics?

• I can learn about the various approaches out of interest.
• I can learn about the approaches for explaining Christchurch weather (always get home early when the planes fly over the city -the ‘norwester is dry and you must water your garden!).

What do the pilots learn?

When planes first start flying to Christchurch,  it was not the metrics that would have informed them, it would have been their actions.  Their actions would have led to the development of the famous long run way and short runway for landing into the ‘norwester.

If we were to collect information now, it wouldn’t be to confirm that we were right to have two runways.  It would be to tell us that we were wrong!

Imagine the weather is changing (well it doesn’t change fast).  When we seem to use one runway less, then the information is useful!  When pilots start agitating for different slots, their actions tell us that something interesting is happening.

Collect information about actions that inform action.

To collect information to tell accountants that we were right to build the runway  .   .  .  We’ve built it!  Now we are spending money to congratulate or to blame.  So yesterday!  We need to summon the sociologists to explain this preoccupation.

Metrics people, try getting your ahead around what we want and try selling that.   You may be pleasantly surprised!  (We are more interesting too!)