Using the Balanced Scorecard

The concept of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) comes from the world of business. TheBSC is an effective tool for guiding and controlling a business organization so that it can achieve common business goals efficiently and as a team.

The Balanced Scorecard is used to measure cause and effect relationships to predict how different measures would impact the achievement of the organization’s objectives. The perspective is balanced by moving management away from purely financial aspects in order to take into account all of the important aspects. The management team then uses the goals that have been identified to align and lead the organization towards balanced development.

The Balanced Scorecard uses a system of indicators, which are quantifiable data that can provide the full range of information on your progress towards a target for a given situation. TheBSC is used to describe, assess, manage and measure the steps and actions that are key to implementing the vision and the strategic goals that management has set based on that vision.

The scorecards always give a reliable, visual overview of where the company stands and what remains to be done to achieve the business objectives as quickly and efficiently as possible. All significant operational activities are organized around implementing the strategic framework and its objectives.

The concept of the Balanced Scorecard was originally developed by Harvard Business School’s Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton at the beginning of 1990s.

Applying the Balanced Scorecard to One’s Personal Life

Applying the Balanced Scorecard to your personal life will help you achieve comprehensive success and fulfillment in all areas. This is done in a balanced way by working towards your various goals at the same time within a defined framework for action. It would be unbalanced if you were to show extraordinary commitment to your professional life while ignoring your personal life. If you are lopsided in your commitments, you won’t be able to experience overall life satisfaction.

But it’s not surprising that professional success is an important aspect of life for so many people in our society. That’s because it is possible to obtain a great deal of affirmation on the job and to experience moments of true happiness. Nevertheless, a one-sided focus on one area of life should be avoided as it hinders overall satisfaction. This applies to areas outside of your profession as well, such as playing computer games or involvement in social media networks. The danger here is that non-virtual relationships and real friendships would be neglected.

Many people lack the necessary decisiveness to correct the missteps caused by being lopsided and to turn the rudder around to a healthy direction. This is where the Balanced Scorecard helps. It significantly increases your power to see things through and meet your goals. This power gradually becomes your entire way of life that will shape your personality in a positive and lasting way.

Making Resolutions

You know about these, don’t you? We like to make resolutions, especially on vacation (I’ll eat less once I get back home) and at New Year’s (I’ll make more time for my family this year). Sometimes we not only come up with resolutions in our mind, but we proclaim them from the rooftop, which attaches a certain level of obligation to them so as to preserve our credibility (and thus how others see us). But which resolutions do we actually keep?

Unfortunately, most are forgotten as soon as the rat race of everyday life starts up again, and the few who do keep them won’t know for a long time whether the resolutions are in line with the desire to be fulfilled in the whole of their lives, nor whether they are feasible over the long term.

Consider a newly-licensed commercial airline pilot who has just