Why KPIs Become ‘Box-Ticking’ Exercises, According to Leanne Bridges

In a recent LinkedIn post, Leanne Bridges discusses a common pitfall in performance management where Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) devolve into a mere administrative task rather than a driver of meaningful change. Bridges highlights how many teams, despite diligently filling out metrics weekly, fail to derive any real benefit from the data, leading to a sense of false accountability.

Bridges recounts an experience where she advised a team to cease their weekly KPI reporting, not because measurement is unimportant, but because the process had become a perfunctory exercise. She observes:

“The MDs team filled in KPIs weekly. I told them to stop. Not because measuring things doesn’t matter. It does. But his team had turned KPIs into a box-ticking exercise.”

The Illusion of Accountability

According to Leanne Bridges, the core issue is not the existence of KPIs themselves, but how they are perceived and utilized within an organization. She points out that the act of filling in numbers can create a superficial appearance of accountability. However, this is often disconnected from actual behavioral change or strategic improvement.

Bridges elaborates on this disconnect, noting that the team filled in the KPIs because they were instructed to, not because the numbers held intrinsic meaning for them or prompted any adjustments to their work. The intention of the Managing Director, as described by Bridges, was to gain oversight without constant individual check-ins, mistakenly believing that providing the numbers would naturally lead to their attainment.

Numbers Without Conversation

Bridges argues that the problem lies not with the numbers themselves, but with the absence of meaningful conversation surrounding them. She states:

“A number on its own doesn’t change what anyone does. It’s just a number on a spreadsheet. The numbers aren’t the problem. It’s the conversation around them that isn’t working.”

This observation is particularly relevant, as Bridges notes that this phenomenon is widespread, affecting a significant majority of businesses she encounters. The data exists, targets may be set, and proper KPIs might even be in place, yet without a framework for discussion and action, they remain inert. Many leaders, as Bridges points out, are unaware of this dynamic because, from their internal perspective, it appears as though all the correct procedures are being followed.

The Gap Between Telling and Doing

Leanne Bridges emphasizes that simply telling employees that KPIs matter and that they should act on them is often insufficient. She explains:

“He’d been clear that the KPIs mattered. He’d told them he wanted them to act on them, not just fill them in. But telling someone that doesn’t always change what they do.”

This highlights a critical gap in many management strategies: the failure to bridge the understanding of data with the impetus for action. Bridges suggests that a lack of understanding among leadership about why their KPI systems are failing is common, precisely because the outward signs of compliance (data entry) are present. The real work, according to Bridges, involves fostering a culture where data is used as a catalyst for dialogue, learning, and continuous improvement, rather than just a reporting requirement.