Closing the loop

I recently started wearing an Oura ring, having won one as a prize at one of the Vegas-themed expo booths at the Transform conference. So far I am impressed by the app albeit overwhelmed by the volume of data points available from the prior day when I wake up. It has gotten me thinking about performance management and the benefit of timely feedback in helping people improve. What if that feedback could be proactive (almost prescient), customized to that person’s specific circumstances?

If it takes me a while to fall asleep after a later meal than usual, my recovery score the next morning will expectedly be low. While I can make note of it for future recall and avoid doing the things we all know aren’t conducive to good sleep, I wish there was a more foresighted, personalized, in-time guidance popping up in the app throughout the day to bolster my chances of a higher recovery rate the next day.

One intriguing Oura feature that could be applied in performance management is the ability to add tags along the way. Upon adding a tag (from “cold shower” to “flu shot” or “coffee”), users uncover the impact that action typically has on their metrics based on what other users have experienced over time.

Within organizations, one way to make feedback more proactive and actionable to new and existing employees could be to build a crowd-sourced best practices knowledge base. Every single contributor could more quickly and predictively understand the impact of their actions and behaviors on both their individual and collective/business performance. If you are working on an innovative solution in the performance management space, please email me here and/or fill out this form. I look forward to hearing from you!