… or, ROI is what you make of it.

Yesterday, David Meerman Scott tweeted the question “What is the ROI of measuring the ROI of something?”

I would argue that the ROI of measuring ROI is … ROI. But I’m not just being a smartass here. The ROI number thus measured is not an end to itself, but a means to an end.  What you get when you do this correctly is an ROI figure or set of such figures that you can use to convince decision makers to do things a certain way.

We all make decisions based on ROI. We may not think of it in those terms because we may make the incorrect assumption that ROI is measured strictly in terms of money.  But when I decide to volunteer my time and effort towards a cause, or help a friend with a project, it’s not directly about money.  And yet there is a return on my time and effort.  It could be the progress toward a worthwhile goal, or the satisfaction derived from helping others, or the enjoyment of spending time with a friend while working on a fun task, or  the benefit of maintaining or strengthening the relationship.  It’s all ROI.  The more important question is what you do with it.

What do you think?

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