third dimension

Lets talk measurements. Often, metrics seem more like tools designed to say, "drive a car by looking out the rear-view mirror." Fair enough. But in an "analysis and synthesis" thinking exercise, a couple of thoughts took center stage in my brain. Those that have read "Purple Curve Effect" know that I observe a large number of management principals are found in movies. Like "The Wrath of Khan." The second Star Trek movie (1982) where Spock suggests that Khan is using only "two dimensional" strategy in his warfare against James T. Kirk. Which somehow caused me to consider Eli Goldratt's "Dollar Days" metric that tells us (among other things), that measuring vendors in a supply chain has very little to do with the low cost provider, and everything to do with due date performance. Missing a $2.00 part for two weeks on a $29,000 motorcycle is profound, especially when one learns that the next highest bidder of that same part, could have delivered an equivolent item for $2.27 on time! Simply specifying a part's physical attributes and a price point are not sufficient. So, is there a third dimension missing in the metrics used to measure progress towards our system goal? -ski