Instead of the easy metrics…

What is it that you hope to accomplish? Not what you hope to measure as a result of this social media strategy/launch, but to actually change, create or build?

An easy but inaccurate measurement will only distract you. It might be easy to calibrate, arbitrary and do-able, but is that the purpose of your work?

I know that there’s a long history of a certain metric being a stand-in for what you really want, but perhaps that metric, even though it’s tried, might not be true. Perhaps those clicks, views, likes and grps are only there because they’re easy, not relevant.

If you and your team can agree on the goal, the real goal, they might be able to help you with the journey…

System innovations almost always involve rejecting the standard metrics as a first step in making a difference. When you measure the same metrics, you’re likely to create the same outcomes. But if you can see past the metrics to the results, it’s possible to change the status quo.”
Seth Godin on his blog here.

There are a lot of standard metrics in OSS and comms networks. In the context of Seth’s post, I have two layers of metrics for you to think about. One layer is the traditional role of OSS – to provide statistics on the operation of the comms network / services / etc. The second layer is in the statistics of the OSS itself.

Layer 1 – Our OSS tend to just provide a semi-standard set of metrics because service providers tend to use similar metrics. We even had standards bodies helping providers get consistent in their metrics. But are those metrics still working for a modern carrier?
Can we disrupt the standard set of metrics by asking what a service provider is really wanting to achieve in our changing environment?

Layer 2 – What do we know about our own OSS? How are they used? How does that usage differ across clients? How does it differ between other products? What are the metrics that help sell an OSS (either internally or externally)?

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