Keith Dorricott
Process Improvement Consultant & Master Black Belt
Key Points
- Start with the end in mind when developing metrics
- Spotting performative metrics that look good but lack purpose
- Formulating key performance questions that drive effective measurement
- The three types of metric — time, cost, and quality — and when to use each
- Revisiting and revising metrics as processes evolve
- Using critical thinking to question assumptions and data
Tom Lazenby interviews Keith Dorricott, process improvement consultant and Master Black Belt, about metrics — the thing every trial produces in abundance and few teams actually use well.
They discuss why performative metrics look impressive on a slide and tell you nothing, how to start with the key performance question rather than the data you happen to have, and the three types of metric — time, cost, and quality — and when each one earns its place.
Keith explains why a metric that punishes people quietly teaches them to game the system, how vague definitions turn a dashboard into an argument nobody can win, and why the metrics that served you last year may be the wrong ones to keep this year.
Drawing on years of helping organisations improve process and quality through thoughtful measurement, Keith brings a practical, sceptical eye to the whole exercise: start small, question your own assumptions, and treat measurement as a means to an end rather than an end in itself.
Chapters
About the Guest
Keith Dorricott
Process Improvement Consultant & Master Black Belt
Keith Dorricott is a clinical trials process-improvement expert and consultant with deep experience in metrics, RBQM, business process re-engineering, and quality oversight. A qualified Master Black Belt since 2007 and Black Belt since 2002, he helps teams make complex ideas understandable and practical, with a strong focus on using metrics intelligently rather than performatively.
Keith argues that metrics should answer a real key performance question, reflect the underlying process, and help teams improve outcomes rather than drive the wrong behaviour. That blend of technical depth and plain-English explanation is a big part of what makes his perspective so valuable.
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