ABSTRACT
I once asked an audience why we have target-based business measurement systems that project monthly, quarterly, and even fiscal year-end numbers. One despondent voice in the back called out, “In order to make weather forecasters look good.” The point is well made, particularly if you add the humorous claim that being a meteorologist is the only job where you get paid despite being wrong half the time. However, the scientific method used to predict tomorrow’s weather, however inaccurate, is still more valuable to the customer than revealing yesterday’s weather with 100% certainty. The challenge is to continually improve the process used to foretell future conditions so as to be continually more accurate.
