Seeing the Edge with NW Marketing Guy - Rod Brooks

We get what we measure. It's a familiar phrase in the business world and it is one of the reasons we set goals and report on our results. It's why we keep score.

We're all familiar with scoreboards. They're all around us. We grow up with scoreboards in school and teachers send them home to parents in the form of report cards. We keep score as adults at work where goals are set and metrics are measured. At home, we keep score of things on calendars, on our refrigerators, and other less obvious places for the more private games and challenges of our daily lives. Of course, there are the obvious places that scoreboards were created and manufactured for - the playgrounds, gymnasiums, and stadiums of sports.

I'm writing this on the morning of the National Football League's NFC Championship game. I'll be one of the 68,000 fans at CenturyLink Field cheering on my beloved Seattle Seahawks and scoreboards will surround me. Not just the many obvious boards that keep track of points either. There's four of them for defensive statistics - sacks, three-and-outs, and turnovers; another four for offensive statistics - first downs, yards rushing, passing and total yards gained; even a special scoreboard that encourages the 12th Man to cheer loud enough to create yet another false start by the opponent. And that's just a few of the many scoreboards that come to mind.

When it comes to health and fitness, it helps me to have scoreboards too. The obvious one is the one where weight is displayed. This morning I weigh 289.6 pounds. I'm not happy with the score, but my effort is paying off. Last month the number being posted was a little more than 300. Not a good score for me, but it was the real score just the same. It doesn't help me to hide or deny it. For me, winning requires knowing the score and putting it up on the board.

My new scorekeeper is my Fitbit. It provides a variety of measured metrics that help me stay aware of my behaviors and let's me know when I need to try a little harder in order to succeed. Things like steps, stairs, sleep, calories, water, and effort are measured every minute of the day. I enter some of the information - what I eat, drink and weigh - and it does the rest. I only take it off to shower. It's on my wrist the rest of time... every minute of the day and night. It even vibrates to let me know when a goal has been reached. A mini-celebration.

Today will be a good day. The walk to the stadium from the distant parking lot, the climb up the stadium ramps and stairs, and the many, many, stand-up and sit-down moments during the game will all add to the score. I'll be doing my part. I have no doubt the Seahawks will be doing their part too.

How's your scoreboard doing? How often do you look at it?