Paul Kearns,

Sure, as a step in any business decision. As you know, if there are no measures you might wish to ask what the local supervisor or manager is doing lately. Who would decide these
measures? "Works Perfectly" ?

Nero Wolfe

Pre measurement, or establishing a baseline, is a crucial step to being able to measure the change in performance both during and after a programme.

Level 4 measurements are not lagging indicators per se - they are simply Level 4 measurements - an measure of the impact to the business. Choose the right measure and it can easily be a predictor of performance - a leading indicator, especially if you understand the relationship between relevant processes and their inputs and outputs. To develop this level of understanding you need several things, including a good measurement system and set of measures.

Once we have the change to the business measurement we are tracking (pre-post measurement), we need to be sure to separate the variables. That is, we can only attribute to training that part of the change that is a result of the training. Phillips calls this isolating the effects of training. There are always other factors that need to be taken into consideration.

Phillips starts in the wrong place - that's why he tries to 'convert' afterwards and isolate variables. Both of these activities are pointless. Pre-measurement follows the well established principle of Plan Do Check Act - isolating variables is unnecessary if the planned measures improve.

quote:

isolating variables is unnecessary if the planned measures improve.

There's an example from ICL which Thomas Stewart cites (albeit in relation to IC) which backs up your point "it almost doesn't matter what the bloody metrics are, so long as you can know that this thing, whatever it is, is getting better or worse. If you don't keep your intellectual capital refreshed, it will erode."

Metrics good....more and more attention to metrics better? I wonder how practical it is to make the intangible tangible? Strikes me as more of an oxymoron!