We do an annual employee satisfaction survey and elicit feedback from our team about the strengths and weaknesses of our culture. We get a lot of great feedback that we take very seriously and much of it informs our people-strategy.  There was one bit of written feedback that stood out and if I am honest it grated on me at first – “I don’t understand why we are so focused on the numbers.” This isn’t the first time I have heard this sentiment and if asked honestly, it is a reasonable question – why do the numbers matter?  

This past weekend the Eagles destroyed the Chiefs in the Superbowl.  What if the clock ran out and the officials got together, talked things over and decided that since Mahomes talks so cute and Taylor and Travis have suffered so since Kamila lost her bid for the Presidency, the score doesn’t matter and they gave the Lombardi Trophy to the Chiefs?  Philly would riot over that decision.  Why?  Because the numbers matter!   We establish rules of a game, the goals of a game and we measure the outcome on the field of play using a scoring system.  

Countless societal systems have rules built around numbers that matter.  As with many American males in mild midlife crisis, I have a vehicle with an obnoxious amount of horsepower.  Lets say on the way home tonight I let those horses run and the Hoover police dept pulls me over: 

Officer: “Sir, do you know why I pulled you over?” 

Me: “Nope” 

Officer: “You were going 92 in a 45 mph zone!”  

Me:  “Well you see officer, numbers don’t matter to me”     

You think I’m getting out of a ticket?  Heck no!  Why? Because numbers matter.  

In business we get to frame out the rules of the game within the bounds of the law and the market we play in.  We get to decide what our model is, how we will compete, who we will compete with and the numbers we use to understand if we are winning or losing.  The numbers are the score board.   

I must confess I was initially irritated by the question. That irritation is rooted in the observation that generally those who are underperforming are the ones who complain about number fixation.  They don’t like the outcome of the game so they opt for the ostrich tact.  I bet you a dollar they would care about numbers if we dropped a digit from their weekly pay.  Ok, that is harsh.  But creating value in this world certainly matters and money is the medium we use to exchange that value.  

Perhaps I should give our digital detractor the benefit of the doubt.  It is certainly possible to over-fixate on the numbers.  To some, numbers are highly addictive – the crack of the analyst.  Perhaps their manager is an addict and their feedback apt.  To some, staring and thinking about the numbers feels like accomplishment.  The sobering reality is that staring at the numbers does nothing to move the numbers!  A QB staring at the scoreboard when the ball is snapped is going to get his clock cleaned.  A commuter with her gaze fixed on the speedometer will surely crash.  A healthy relationship to numbers lay somewhere in the middle.  

The numbers are actually not important in and of themselves, what they represent is important.  They are the scoreboard, a quick reference point to see whether we are winning the game we have decided to play.  A business’s growth rate is indicative of the value that business is creating in the market.  The number of lives impacted by a non-profit is a measure of their mission.  If we really play the game of business well, the quantifiable depth and breath of our virtuous impact will correlate directly with financial outcomes.   That’s the game I am playing and the numbers matter because I am playing to win.