Recall the last time you sat in a room with a regional manager who was adept at always asking one more question. Especially on the heels of a metric report-out.
The number tells a story. The question tells the why behind the number, and the why is where you find opportunity.
Management theorist Russell Ackoff argued that data becomes information only when it is placed in context, information becomes knowledge only when patterns are identified, and knowledge becomes wisdom only when the patterns are understood well enough to produce reliable predictions about future behavior. Most operational reporting in multifamily stops at data.
When a regional manager learns that the conversion rate fell from 28% to 19% and first asks what changed in leasing conversations during that time, they’re seeking the story behind the number before acting on the number alone.
It’s keen to build this discipline into the team’s performance review culture. Setting the expectation to understand the why behind each metric will change your organization dramatically. In a good way.
The regional manager asks these questions to understand and apply lessons to create better outcomes. It also teaches the team to come prepared.
Ask the one more question. Every time.
The right question is always: what produced this number, and what would have to change to produce a different one? — Mike Brewer
Discussion Prompt: In your last team performance review, for each metric that was presented, was a causal hypothesis also presented about what produced the result? If not, introduce that expectation at the next review and observe how the quality of the conversation changes.