When church was over Sunday morning, I worked my way through the crowd to find our head usher. The first thing I asked was, "What was our count this morning?" 280. Everyone was celebrating the number of people in attendance, the highest count we have ever had, except for Easter and Christmas.

What if no one counted?

What if someone counted but they wouldn't tell me the score?

Do you see how knowing the score makes me feel like I am part of a team? How knowing the score makes me feel like I am a part of a winning team? How knowing the score gives more meaning to what I am a part of, familiar with, and what I am doing? Do you see how not knowing the score makes me feel excluded, marginalized, minimized, and insignificant? What do you look for when you turn to the sports page in the newspaper? Really think about it. What do you look for? What do you talk about with your friends?

Two Sundays later, at about 8:30 a.m., I called my 91-year old mom to see if she was feeling well enough to go to church with us. When I talked to her the day before, she said, "We will see how I am feeling in the morning." She said, "I'm already dressed and ready to go". As we were driving from her Woodburn apartment to church in Wilsonville, one of the first things she asked me was, "How many people attend?" This was my mom's first time to go with me to our sons' (her grandson)

Barry's church. He is the founding minister. His official title is Creative Director. As we drove along talking about many things, she said, "I guess Barry is the only minister in my family. I can't think of anyone else." I was a little nervous. My mom comes from a very traditional perspective and I knew she was going to experience a church service unlike any other she had ever attended. The service could be described in many ways, though none of them are traditional. Sitting by her during the service was an emotional experience for me.

After service, as we were driving to a nearby restaurant for lunch, the first question my mom asked me was, "How many people were there in attendance today?" I wasn't sure. I hadn't connected with the head usher. I promised her I would get the answer as soon as possible and call her with it.

What do you think people in your organization want to know at the end of the day, week, month, quarter, year? Isn't it apparent that they can't have as great a sense of belonging without knowing the score? And when do they need to know? Real time! They need to see and know how and what they do affects the score. How can they improve the score to hit the targets representing success?