In this weekend’s WSJ there’s an article on companies that are encouraging their employees to get tattoos: Nice Tattoo! I Didn’t Know You Worked at Walmart. I would love to see Patrick, Chris, and Douglas, or John, Ashley and Linda adorn their bodies with TSG’s logo [I might even give them a bonus to have it done!].

My younger son, Douglas, has become the athlete in our family. He has engaged in close to two dozen Tough Mudder races, as well as several Spartan obstacle course events. A couple years ago, when he successfully completed a particularly challenging Spartan race, he decided to add their logo to his leg. Well, why not our company’s? He has two legs! Is that asking too much?

But I’d rather see our clients show their enthusiasm for our company’s products and services by permanently displaying our logo somewhere on their bodies. After all, there are many bikers who wear the Harley Davidson tattoo,  so is it asking too much for our clients to do likewise? Perhaps we’ll bring a tattoo artist in to our upcoming PMAR conferences!

Okay, seriously … [or maybe not]

Is it time for performance measurement tattoos?

I have thought about getting a performance measurement tattoo. Perhaps something that shows my affection for the internal rate of return. Or, for my devotion to the interaction effect. During our Fundamentals of Performance Measurement and Performance Attribution classes, I sometimes joke that I already have them! [In reality, my body is, at least so far, a tattoo-free zone]

Tattoos have definitely become much more popular. When I was growing up, they were generally limited to sailors. When I was in the army, some enlisted men had them, but never an officer [perhaps you’ll recall the movie “An Officer & a Gentleman,” and how the main character had to cover his!] But today, we even see West Point cadets wearing them, so even that wall has been torn down.

And so, shouldn’t performance measurement professionals be considering at least  one performance measurement tattoo?

Show your pride: get your performance measurement tattoo!

Most of the folks in our company wear a performance measurement lapel pin. And we’ve given them out to hundreds of performance & risk measurement professionals. Why not take the next step, and make it permanent?

But which one?

While a percentage sign might be nice, I’m sure there are many more options.

Have the CIPM? Why not add that to your upper arm?

Only time will tell if we start to see performance measurement tattoos making their way into our profession. Oh, and if you already have one, please take a photo of it and send it to me, so we can post it! Thanks! And if and when I get one, I’ll post it!