So often we just get caught up in the activity that we don’t look up to see the results we are producing. When we’re not careful in checking the results, we can find ourselves really busy but not producing the results we want. The activity does not equal the results.
This can be true as we pursue our calling in life too. Let’s say that we have a passion to help homeless folks. So, we start a program to feed homeless people. We get real active fixing meals and handing them out. Yet if the same folks are the ones receiving the meals year after year, are we really producing the result we wanted? My guess is that feeding the homeless while they stayed stuck is not what we had mind initially.
A part of the problem is that we measure the activity instead of the results. We count how many meals we handed out (the activity), rather than how many homeless folks moved into a home (the result). As Francis Chan said, (and I’m paraphrasing), if someone shows up in a wheelchair, we should be working to get them out of the wheelchair, not just push them around in it.
I’m not saying that providing meals is wrong. I’m saying that we should check the results. And then we should adjust our activity if necessary.
Let’s continue with the example of feeding the homeless. If we had checked and found out that the homeless folks were still stuck year after year, we might change our activity. Perhaps in addition to providing meals, we would partner with another organization to help the homeless learn skills and get jobs. Maybe we would offer recovery groups for the homeless. There are lots of possibilities, and none of the require that we stop providing meals.
To get end results:
- Measure the results not just the activity
- Adjust the activity if we aren’t getting the results we wanted
Now it’s your turn. How do we make sure we’re measuring results rather than the activity?
