Happy Friday,

I've been busy switching up some of my writing on my site, which is challenging, and I hope it pays off. My previous strategy was to write frequently about whatever I felt like and hope that would turn into people reading my site, joining my newsletter, and eventually becoming my clients.

Would you believe that didn't work?

So I'm focusing my writing much more closely on what people are searching for that I happen to know about. My most recent article was all about building self-managing teams, and as a part of that article, I had to bump into a topic that I thought I'd write about more here.

Sensors and Signals

Sensors and signals are nothing new, but like most well-known subjects, a slight twist can sometimes bring them back to life in new and powerful ways. Sensors and signals represent a means of detecting something and what that detection means. This probably sounds like metrics and KPIs, but there is a twist, remember?

Decisions > Data

The standard KPIs and metrics that people develop, chase, and discuss are those that focus on using these to represent progress, success, and sometimes operations. Sensors and signals are more about decisions.

You might be thinking that is what normal KPIs and metrics are for. I'll say they can be for that but rarely are. Far too often KPIs and metrics don't prompt any decisions at all other than to investigate and gather more data. Senors and signals move past that and try to more strongly attach a discrete set of actions to take when a signal is noticed.

Signals in Action

Consider a team building a product. This team is surrounded by well-worn metrics around velocity, defect counts, burndowns, etc. They are reported on often, sometimes spark curiosity but otherwise this data offers little benefit considering the emphasis on tracking and reporting on them.

In contrast, the team built a simple set of monitors to send an alert when production is down. The monitors are there to sense an outage, and then the alert is a signal to the team. This signal prompts the team to immediately stop what they are working on and repair the outage.

See the difference?

More Sensors and Signals

While there is a lot more I'd like to write about the subject, I think the gist of this concept is pretty clear. Sensors are a means of detecting something and the signal is the way you know it happened. Sensors and signals aren't about data, they're about the action and decisions that take place when the signal is detected.

Imagine a leader using this conceptual model to understand team moral. Their sensors are questions asked in 1:1s and the signal is a rolling average of the last several answers. When the signal crosses a threshold the leader acts on the low morale.

In the case of a deadline, sensors are placed around scope and capacity, and a signal to prompt rescoping and planning is sent when it is detected that your project will be more than 20% late.

Sensors and signals help us make important decisions at the moment they matter most. They're about using readily available data, being clear about what actions need to happen, and following through.

So what do you think? Can you think of a time when this model would have encouraged improvement or progress instead of debate and contention?

Here's my weekly update for March 27th, 2025...

🗒️ Technical Leader’s Strategic Advantage: Building Self-Managed Teams

Unlock the power of a self-managed team!

Discover the definition, benefits, and strategies for fostering autonomy and effective self-management in your team.

Click here to read more

🗒️ Quick and Effective Delegation for Busy Leaders

Learning to delegate can be one of the most significant factors in how much time leaders have to focus on strategic initiatives, the growth and development of their people, and devoting crucial time to emerging crises.

This article breaks down how to delegate effectively, when to delegate, and how to grow your capabilities.

Click here to read more

Enjoy,

Ryan Latta