Have you ever played with one of those 101 Electronic Construction Kits, with the wires and the springs built into the circuit board with diodes and resisters and light sensors and LED readouts and a shitload of other electrical components in different colored sectors that allows you to build up to a working ham radio if you only have the patience to follow the instructions? In one corner of the board, there was an analog meter with a needle that would move if you applied a loop of electrical current from either the 9 volt or 2 x AA batteries. I figured out early in my career of constructing circuits on this exploratory platform that it was helpful — sometimes — to see if you could loop through your own work and see if you “moved the needle”.
25 years later, moving the needle is a catch-phrase at WorkHabit, Inc. To “move the needle” is to register business value, to excite the customer, to provide a needed service / feature / idea. It captures the same idea of “hey, we’re on to something!” that the electronic set did for me many years ago. But, unlike the 101, when the needle moves with this team, clients and ‘Habiters alike get excited. This is some use of the Force, something I can’t describe but with esoteric terms. But I know it now, I have its scent, and this makes the pursuit of real, tangible value much easier to accomplish.
It also underscores that I have a lot to learn, because the meter has a scale, and so far, I have only seen it twitch due to my efforts. This means there is the potential for so much more…
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