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Impact Beyond Data In a recent conversation with the CTO of a fitness app company, I shared a story about managing organizational change on one of my past teams. I mentioned that one of the signs of success was a heartfelt comment from a long-time employee about how I anticipated and guided the team through the emotional stages of the change, which was a dimension the organization had completely ignored previously. This employee was on the verge of tears while sharing how much of a difference it made. The CTO’s immediate response: “What KPIs did you use to track that?” Some of you reading this will think that’s a perfectly fine response, but I know at least a few of you will have the same initial internal reaction I did… “Seriously?” The issue was more with the timing and delivery than the question itself. In a discovery call with an engineering leader at a different company, we were discussing how to evaluate the impact of a potential Compassionate Coding engagement. I found it so refreshing was that he immediately understood that while there would be short-term benefits reflected in surveys, this kind of deep cultural change requires long-term thinking and often defies simple metrics. He demonstrated this understanding by sharing that his wife, a nurse, often comforts people near the end of their lives. There can be no survey of the deceased afterward to evaluate her “effectiveness” in easing their transition, and yet this is immensely valuable work. The truth is none of us will be able to fully quantify the impact of our work. The kind encouragement you give to a junior employee may inspire them to pursue a leadership path where they’ll go on to inspire countless others. That won’t necessarily show up in your performance review, but it still matters.
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