A baseline is the measurement taken before an improvement effort begins, used as the reference point everything afterward is compared against. Without a baseline, a target's eventual achievement is difficult to put in context.
What it means
A baseline answers "compared to what?" - a target of increasing a metric by 20% means very different things depending on whether the baseline was already strong or genuinely poor.
Where it fits in
Both leading and lagging indicators are typically tracked from a defined baseline, since the value of either kind of metric comes from the trend relative to where it started, not the absolute number alone.
Key rules
- The starting measurement everything afterward is compared against.
- Gives a target's eventual achievement real context.
- Established before an improvement effort begins.
- Both leading and lagging indicators are tracked relative to it.
