One way to measure an organization’s health is to compare meaningful output with the resources spent producing it.
Meaningful output is the work customers actually need:
- a software company ships useful software
- a trucking company delivers goods
- a healthcare provider treats patients
Other work supports that output. Product managers, QA teams, dispatchers, technicians, and administrative staff can make the main work more effective.
The distinction matters because organizations often improve support work at the expense of the work it is meant to support. A new planning process may give managers better reports while leaving engineers with less time to ship software.
Before adding a system or process, I would ask:
- Which meaningful output does this improve?
- How will we measure the change?
- Which roles gain time, and which roles lose it?
- Is the process still worth its cost after a few months?
Support work is necessary. The problem starts when the organization measures the activity of the support system instead of the output it exists to improve.