If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. – Peter Drucker
This quote is used in a lot of articles on business but applies to what we are trying to do here. The name even highlights it. We want to improve not only ourselves but those around us.
We have a few common ways to measure performance. Time, group size and hits on targets. To measure improvements though requires a baseline to be developed. That baseline, however good or bad is what changes are measured against. Truthfully, that baseline performance only matters as a baseline. The groups could be terrible, ammunition slow, average of five rounds to hit the targets, none of it matters except to measure against.
One of the reasons we like to get people posting their work is so we can all share in those improvements. We all get to share in the growth and the joy of making a gain or the disappointment when something drops you below the baseline.
There are things out there that you will test that are worse. From techniques to gear, something won’t work. With posts about it from across the membership, we can determine if that performance reducer is truly bad, bad for some, or just in need of some development.
We become our own testing cell that helps improve the community and someday might become a vital resource to business.
Some members don’t post because they see the people who are farther along the path posting great results. I encourage you to post what you do and achieve. Regardless.
If your combination produces a 3 minute group, it looks terrible in comparison. Keep in mind though that if you can produce 3 min groups in all positions and all speeds across a heat cycle, you may be in a better position than most. I know some rifles that produce a sub minute three round group cold and open up to 4 minutes over 10 rounds. I know some that shift 4 to 5 minutes over a string of 20 rounds. If you have a 3 MOA rifle that sustains through all that, you are better off than the person with the above rifles.
Let’s say that those three minute groups are shooter related though. As you learn and apply things, the group gets to two minutes. That is quantifiable data. We set our baseline, made changes and improved our performance by a third.
We, the Members here, want to share in that. Your changes can help the next guy, New Comer, or even that seasoned high performer who may not have stumbled across some peculiar thing you did. It may also motivate that high end person to do some work because the competition just leveled up and made a 1/3 improvement while they were leveling up on a video game.
Knight’s Armament SR-25We are based on measurment and improvement. Let’s get after it.