Measuring the “Intangibles”

One of the most profound lessons I learned in graduate school came from a philosophical question asked by one of my professors, “What is love and how do we measure it?” We all agreed that love was real but it was too abstract to measure; it was intangible. The lesson I learned in this class completely transformed how I look at performance and how we, at Horizon, measure and develop it.

As he explained in our structural modeling class, “love” is a latent construct that you cannot measure directly but it can be measured indirectly through behavior; like words of affirmation, physical touch, gifts given, acts of service, and quality time spent together.

When it comes to assessing performance, there are the traditional ways that we can measure specific dimensions of this construct. For instance, we can measure the outcomes of performance, like number of tackles, yards run, shooting percentage, or stolen bases. Physically we can measure 40 speed, vertical jump, and bench press. But then there are the “intangibles” like mental toughness, teamwork, commitment, etc. that are also dimensions of performance but can’t be measured…or can they?

Similar to the concept of “love”, each of these intangible traits is a latent construct that can be indirectly measured through behavior. When a team takes the time to clearly define the behaviors that a coaching staff will look for in each of the intangibles, then they can begin to discover what makes one athlete a high performer or prevents another from being their best. For instance, if Commitment is important for an athlete’s overall performance then defining the behaviors that are the manifestations of this “intangible” trait will allow a coaching staff to measure it. Does the athlete constantly watch game film, talk about it incessantly, deeply know and appreciate the rich tradition of the sport, spend extra time honing his craft, etc…Each time one of these behaviors is observed it becomes an indicator of Commitment.

Clearly and accurately defining the behaviors associated with each of these traits is vitally important for high-performing teams that are looking to select, train, and develop the “intangibles”.