SECTION 1
Chapter 4:
Proving Relevance
3 minute read
He downloaded the app Thursday night.
He'd expected to open it and start entering information. Instead, the first thing it offered was four short videos—a guided introduction labeled Start My Value Journey. He almost skipped them. He was tired; it was late.
He watched the first one anyway.
It asked a question he hadn't considered before: What does value look like? Not effort. Not activity. Not busyness. Value—the specific, measurable change that happens in an organization because a person shows up and does what they do.
He watched all four.
The framework had a name: the Meaningful Competence® Toolkit. The app was built on that framework; it was called the My Value App. The videos explained how outputs linked to results, how results linked to evidence, how evidence linked to the story you could tell about yourself—and Marcus felt something shift. Like a lens coming into focus.
He'd spent eleven years producing value. He just hadn't known what to call it, or how to count it, or how to point at it in a room full of people who were deciding what happened next in his career.
He closed the app and went to sleep. Friday couldn't come fast enough.
***
Diane was already at the table when Marcus arrived on Friday.
"Did you try the blank document?" she asked.
"I did. I made a list of things I did this year. Tasks, mostly. It felt like a job description."
"That's where everyone starts. It's the natural starting point, but it's the wrong one." She tapped the trackpad and pulled up the app. "Starting from what you do means you end up describing activity. Activity isn't value. Results are value."
"The videos talked about outputs and results. But I can’t picture yet how it all fits. I did learn that I should start with a result leaders will care about.
"Yes. You start with the organization. Specifically, with the things the organization is already trying to measure: Revenue. Costs. Error rates. Customer retention. Processing times." She looked at him. "What does your department track?"
"Let’s see,” he started counting off on his fingers: “Processing time on the regional accounts. Error rates on vendor inputs. Compliance turnaround."
"Those could be your Relevant Business Results," Diane said. "The metrics that connect to why the organization exists. Not what you do to support them—the results themselves." She navigated to the Relevant Business Results section in the app. "Let's spend some time here."
Relevant Business Result: The tracked, bottom-line metrics, connected to the organization's core mission, that your efforts influence.
They worked through the section together—a short video, a few examples that showed the difference between a result and an activity dressed up as one. Marcus found himself nodding at things he recognized.
"Now let's follow the guidance with the three you've mentioned," Diane said. "Starting with processing time on regional accounts. First question: can you see your effort in that metric?"
"Yes. Although I'm not the only one affecting it."
"You never are. CorporateBall is a team sport." She gestured toward the screen. "Second question."
Marcus read it and felt the vendor integration click into place. Show the path from your result to a metric executives watch. He picked up a pen and wrote:
Processing time → labor hours per unit → cost per transaction → cost of operations.
Diane studied it. "Yes. That's a traceable line. Executives can follow that." She scrolled down. "Next."
Marcus read the question aloud. "What should the trend look like?" He sat with it. He'd always fixed a problem and moved on. He'd never once asked himself what success looked like going forward.
After a moment Diane said, "That one stopped me too. I had a client whose numbers improved every quarter I was there—and the moment I left, they drifted back. I'd never given them a target to hold."
Marcus wrote, “Steep downward slope, followed by a leveling off.” He'd probably return to that one. Down was the right direction for processing time.
They worked through the other two results the same way. Both held up.
"Should we look for more?" Marcus asked.
Diane leaned back. "Have you ever been handed eight performance objectives at once?"
Marcus exhaled. "Three it is."
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