"Ignorance is the starting point for the bliss that leads to oblivion."

Joan, a coffee shop manager watched a customer get up and make his way to the pay phone beside the counter. "Hi. I am calling about the ad you had in the paper for a regional manager a few months ago," Joan overheard her customer saying on the phone. "Oh, I see, the position's been filled. Are you happy with the new manager," the man asked. "You are. OK, thanks."

As the customer went past the counter, Joan said sympathetically, "I couldn't help but over hear your call. Sorry that job wasn't available." Somewhat puzzled, the customer replied in a different voice than he'd used on the phone, "What? Oh, that. Oh, I have the job now. I was just calling to see how I was doing."

High performers actively seek feedback. They know that's the only way to change their course and improve their performance. Good feedback and measurement identifies the "here" that goes with vision's "there". Getting from here to there depends on a solid understanding of where "here" is.

But in most organizations