2 June 2026
Leading indicators that survive leave
Consultants love leading indicators. Operators love being able to take a week off. Those two loves collide the moment the spreadsheet’s owner is in hospital or on the Gold Coast.
A leading indicator is supposed to move before the result you care about. In practice, many “leading” measures are just a clever extract that one person knows how to refresh. When that person is away, the huddle either skips the number or guesses. Guessing is not a system.
In Cadence for Frontline Managers we use a blunt test. Hand the definition to someone who did not build it. Give them thirty minutes and the same source files. If they cannot produce the figure, it is not leading. It is folklore.
The fix is rarely a new platform. It is a written definition, a named deputy, and a number that can be assembled from a source that already exists on Wednesday. If your leading indicator needs a weekend model, it will not survive Easter in Queensland.
We would rather you run four crude leading numbers than eleven elegant ones. Crude numbers that appear every week change conversations. Elegant numbers that appear when the analyst is back from leave decorate a pack.