Compass X Group May/June 2018

Compass X Group May/June 2018

True North A COMPASSX CONSULTING PUBLICATION

BAKE OFF THE COMPETITION With Scorecards

On “The Great British Bake Off,” amateur bakers compete for the honor of creating the best baked goods. The bakers work quickly to assemble recipes and prepare them for evaluation, leaving us waiting anxiously until the end of each episode for the judges’ reactions. Often, the judges only deem a recipe good or bad after all the time and energy has gone into making the final product. How do you avoid putting your time and resources into a recipe that isn’t viable? Unlike the show, CompassX will not advise waiting until the end to “taste your concoctions.” Too often, we see companies rely on methods that only allow the evaluation of concepts at the end of the production cycle. At that point, you’ve wasted time and resources — much like the failed stroopwafels of the show’s eighth season. Many CompassX clients have adopted smaller, focused, and more nimble projects. Often, these rapid-result types of projects come with labels such as “agile,” “proof of concept,” “assessments,” and “minimally viable product.”

To evaluate the efficacy of a proof of concept before launching it into creation, we will write the recipe with our clients and, together, clearly define what we are trying to create. Why Invest This Time Upfront? A company is constantly using multiple proofs of concepts to compete for the same resources — dollars, human capital, and time. Our most trusted basic solution? A scorecard that you use to bring the most beneficial projects into focus and rank these based on their ability to maximize return. What Makes “Scorecarding” Different? Scorecarding is different from a typical end-of-phase readout because a well-defined scorecard requires your team to define a working hypothesis upfront. Like the scientific method, this scorecard helps you determine how success looks and how this project is aligned with the department’s or company’s overall vision and goals. When you complete and review a scorecard, you now have clear >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

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