Identifying the Need

Identifying a need conceptually can be pretty easy once we focus on gaps in results. However, it can be more difficult to identify how big the gap is, whether it is worth closing, and so on. To do so, we must be able to measure relevant variables in the actual situation. We also must be able to quantify the desired situation: how good can things be?

Actuals. Often the easier part of the process is measuring what is going on right now. We can find out the current accident rate and whether it is rising or falling. We can check to see how many children passed the sixth grade proficiency exams and what the average scores were. We can, at least sometimes, measure things like productivity, sales efficiency, and so on. Once we have focused on an area of interest, we can often find data that lets us know what is happening. If not, perhaps we can gather it with tests, surveys, and other instruments.

Optimals. Often the desired situation is called the optimal situation, but how do we know not just what is optimal but what is possible? The optimal situation might very well be to have no accidents in the plant whatsoever. This is certainly worth shooting for, but given the nature of people, technologies, and so forth, it may not be realistic. Few industries approach the current record of the airlines in safety, but still there are occasional crashes caused by human error, system failure, and unexpected combinations of events. It may never be possible to eliminate them entirely. Similarly in educational settings, we would optimally like every child to learn everything we teach, but most teachers are more realistic.

So how do we balance what we want the optimal results to be with what is actually attainable? In situations like these, few of us would want to be judged on the fact that we are imperfect. Often we would prefer to be measured by our improvement and our reaching a realistic goal. But where do such goals come from?

Sometimes goals are simply plucked out of thin air. Many sales people are familiar with having new goals or quotas imposed from above with little or no acknowledgement of the state of the economy, the differences among territories, and other factors out of individual control that can interfere with reaching such objectives. Teachers may also be used to being asked to have their students reach numerous and sometimes conflicting goals, with no regard to what is possible in a given setting.

One of the most reliable ways of specifying the optimal situation is to look around for exemplars: people or organizations that are currently doing much better. It is important in this case that the exemplars chosen be comparable. An inner city school will want to find a similar school to compare itself to rather than a wealthier one with very different demographics. Salespeople should compare themselves to other salespeople without special advantages (such as a cousin in the business).

The advantage of using exemplars of this type lies in the fact that it not only gives us a goal for improvement, it automatically ensures that the goal is attainable. If one person/group/department/company/organization can do this well, then, barring special circumstances, so can we! The goal represents an improvement on what we are doing now. It is also an attainable goal: at least one other group has already attained it.