Relationships built: even in war, relationships are everything.

• Author: Hall, Robert
• Position: Marketing Solutions

Early in both Iraq and Afghanistan our troops did body counts, a la Vietnam. But the big change came when the officers running these wars understood that R.B. 's ("relationships built") actually matter more than K.I.A.'s ("killed in action"). One relationship built with an Iraqi or Afghan mayor or imam or insurgent was worth so much more than one K.I.A. Relationships bring intelligence; they bring cooperation. One good relationship can save the lives of dozens of soldiers and civilians.

--Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times

Even in war, the question of what matters--and therefore what to count--is a battle. Astute practitioners close to the action understand the connection and the distinction between "means of production" and the "results of production." What you count not only places a brighter light on certain areas, but it also removes light from other areas that can lead to a blinding darkness.

Whole companies and even industries have been blindsided because they were not counting what mattered. The U.S. automotive industry initially ignored foreign cars in its measurement of market share. Xerox counted market share by copies reproduced but not by machines installed, letting foreign copiers pick up substantial penetration in the lower end of the market before they registered on the copy volume radar. Certainly our demise in Vietnam was aided by early emphasis on and inflation of body counts.

The Iraq war was well on its way down the tubes before the surge strategy focused on becoming more ingrained in the local language, neighborhoods and tribes; responding to local needs; and, building relationship with local leaders. It turns out that even the winning of wars is really a relationship business. The metrics of life--relationships--have proven more valuable than the metrics of death. The ability to gather reliable and actionable information, gain cooperation and support, and, to exert influence and build commitment, universally fuel success--in war, in politics and in business.

Yet many organizations are still narrowly entrenched in the business of counting bodies: Number of new customers, number of sales, financial profiles per sales person, products sales per customer, customer calls processed. Those are essential but narrow variations on body counts that are of limited instruction for the critical activities that must go right in building relationships.

Could we just declare once and for all that our relationships--some might call...