The SCHAD NUMBER
- Marty Schad
- Dec 6, 2018
- 2 min read
Last week I spoke about the power of “back of the envelope” calculations. This week, I’d like to give a fun example of such a calculation.
The Schad Number is a measurement of satisfaction with your professional life. I have used it and refined it over many years. The larger the coefficient the more satisfied you are with your conditions. All variables are normalized to be between 0.0 and 1.0.
N(Schad) =
The Schad Number
($ x Fun x Learning) / (Commute Time x B.S. x Clown factor)
Where the variables are defined as:
• $ = Factor for satisfaction with your compensation
• Fun = Factor for the enjoyment of the work experience
• Learning = Factor on what can be learned in current position
• Commute Time = Factor for irritation to get to work
• B.S. = Baloney irritation factor for what is incurred on daily basis
• Clown factor = Factor relating to the percentage of boneheads in the company
My Schad Number has ranged from 0.05 to 36 over time, a factor of 720, which is interestingly large.
I was very dissatisfied with how my professional life was going when my Schad Number was 0.05, so I made a significant career change, which considerably increased my Schad Number.
My main learning from this line of thinking is the power of simple calculations to quantify important considerations in your life. The calculations do not have to be fancy; they just need to be usable, believable, and relevant.
This concept of simple calculations also has tremendous power in understanding processes, and it should be used to provide a quantitative view of the situation when possible.
YOUR CHALLENGE THIS WEEK
Please think about one or two of your key process engineering projects, either creating a new process or an improving an existing process…
Can you create a metric that will quantitatively describe how robust your process is?
Review your metric with your key stakeholders. Do they have useful suggestions or additions? Track the metric each month to check your progress over time.
I’d enjoy hearing your comments about the role of these kinds of calculations in your organization. Please send your thoughts to me at marty@martyschad.com, or call me at 508-410-8081.
All the Best,
Marty
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