How to Adjust Failing Systems: Your Guide to Measuring Early Progress Effectively
The Frustration of Fixing What’s Broken
We’ve all been there. A project
at work is spiraling. A personal habit we’re trying to build just isn’t
sticking. A team process is causing more problems than it solves. Our instinct
is to shout, “This is failing! We need to change everything!” So we launch a
big overhaul—a new strategy, a flashy tool, a complete restructuring. But then,
months later, we’re often left wondering: “Is this even working?”
The problem isn’t our intention to fix things; it’s how we measure the fix. We wait for the big, end-result victory while missing the tiny signals that tell us whether we’re on the right path. Adjusting failing systems isn’t about a single heroic intervention; it’s about calibrating your approach based on early, meaningful feedback. This article will guide you through doing just that—measuring early progress effectively to turn failing systems around.
What Do We Mean by a "Failing System"?
First, let's get specific. A
"system" is any repeated process with an input, an action, and an
output—whether it’s your morning routine, a company’s customer service
protocol, or a software development cycle. It’s failing when its outputs
consistently don’t meet the desired goal, often causing frustration, waste, or
missed opportunities.
The critical insight from experts
like systems thinker Donella Meadows is that you can’t just push harder on the
same lever. A failing system often requires a change in its underlying
structure or feedback loops. But to know what to change, you need data. And
that data must come from early in the adjustment process.
The Golden Rule: Measure Leading, Not Just Lagging,
Indicators
This is the core concept for measuring early progress effectively.
·
Lagging
Indicators are the final outcomes: revenue, weight loss, graduation rates.
They are vital but tell a historical story. They confirm long-term success or
failure but are terrible for early guidance. If a ship is off course, waiting
to see if it arrives at the wrong port is a disaster.
·
Leading
Indicators are the predictive, upstream behaviors and signals that
influence those outcomes. They are your early-warning system and your compass.
Example: Imagine
a failing system of poor customer satisfaction (lagging indicator).
·
A lagging
measure is the quarterly satisfaction score.
·
Early
progress measures (leading indicators) might be:
o
A reduction in average customer call handling
time (efficiency).
o
An increase in first-call resolution rate
(effectiveness).
o
More positive sentiment keywords used in customer
chat logs (experience).
By tracking these weekly or even
daily, you know within days if your new training or software tool is having the
intended effect, long before the quarterly survey comes out.
The Framework for Adjustment: A Four-Step Cycle
Here’s a practical, cyclical approach to adjust failing systems.
1. Diagnose with
Precision, Not Blame
Before measuring progress, you
must know what "progress" means. Use the "Five Whys"
technique (popularized by Toyota’s production system) to move beyond symptoms
to root causes.
·
Symptom: "Projects
are always late."
·
Why 1? Because
requirements change mid-way.
·
Why 2?
Because stakeholders aren’t aligned at the kick-off.
·
Why 3? Because
the initial meeting doesn’t include key decision-makers.
Your early measure now becomes:
"Percentage of projects where all key stakeholders attended the definition
meeting." You’ve moved from a vague failure ("late projects") to
a specific, measurable point of intervention.
2. Define "Early
Progress" Signals
For each root cause, ask:
"What would the smallest sign of improvement look like?" This
champions the concept of the "5% Shift." You don’t need a 100%
turnaround to know you’re on the right track.
·
In a
failing sales system: Don’t just measure closed deals. Measure the number
of qualified discovery calls held per week. A 5% increase there is an early,
controllable win.
·
In a
failing personal health system: Don’t just measure pounds lost. Measure the
number of days you cooked a healthy dinner at home. That’s a leading behavior
you can track and celebrate immediately.
3. Build a
"Progress Dashboard"
Create a simple, visible tracker
for your leading indicators. This could be a weekly spreadsheet, a shared team
chart, or a personal habit app. The key is frequency and visibility. A Harvard
Business School study on change management highlights that teams who make
progress visible—even in small increments—maintain momentum and morale far
better. Your dashboard should answer one question at a glance: Are our key
behaviors moving in the right direction?
4. Review and Pivot
Ruthlessly (The Adjustment)
This is where measuring early
progress pays off. Hold short, regular review sessions—weekly is often ideal.
Look at your dashboard and ask:
·
What’s
moving? Why? Can we do more of that?
·
What’s
stagnant or getting worse? Is our intervention flawed, or does it just need
more time?
This creates a tight feedback loop. You’re not waiting for a grand, possibly disastrous, outcome. You’re making small, informed adjustments weekly.
Real-World Case Study: The Tech Pivot
Consider a classic Silicon Valley
story: a startup with a failing user engagement system. Their lagging indicator
(monthly active users) was flatlining. They hypothesized the product was too
complicated.
Instead of a full, year-long
redesign, they defined an early progress measure: "Completion rate of the
new, simplified onboarding flow." They built a bare-bones version (a
"minimum viable product") and released it to 5% of their users.
Within a week, their dashboard showed the completion rate had jumped 25%. This early signal was a green light. It didn’t guarantee ultimate success, but it provided statistically significant evidence that their core hypothesis—"simplicity drives engagement"—was correct. They could then confidently invest in fully adjusting the failing system based on this early, validated learning.
The Human Element: Celebrating Micro-Wins
A system is run by people.
Measuring early progress effectively isn’t just a technical task; it’s a
psychological one. When a system is failing, morale is low. By defining and
highlighting leading indicators, you create opportunities for celebratory
milestones.
Did the team reduce the bug backlog by 10% this week? Celebrate it. Did you meditate for 5 minutes, three days in a row? Acknowledge that win. These micro-wins build belief, reinforce new behaviors, and provide the fuel to keep going. They transform a narrative of failure into one of iterative progress.
Conclusion: Progress is a Process, Not an Event
Adjusting failing systems is less
like performing surgery and more like navigating a ship through fog. You can’t
see the destination, but you have a compass, a speedometer, and a sonar pinging
frequently to warn of nearby rocks. Your leading indicators are those
instruments.
Stop waiting for the distant
thunderclap of final results. Start listening for the early patter of rain.
Define what early progress looks like for your specific challenge, measure it
with obsessive frequency, and have the courage to adjust your course based on
what the data tells you. By measuring early progress effectively, you replace
the anxiety of failure with the empowered, evidence-based confidence of a
skilled navigator, steadily steering your system toward success.
The next time you face a failing
system, ask yourself first: "What will the first small sign of life look
like?" Then go find it. That’s where the turnaround truly begins.