I think most people would agree that walking into a break room piled high with other people’s dirty dishes is an unpleasant experience. To get out of the cycle of blaming and complaining about who was/was not cleaning up, Zingerman’s Mail Order decided to put “# of Mugs in Sink” as a line item on their Department Operating Report (DOR). The line is assigned to a staff person, who is responsible for forecasting how many mugs will be in the sink in the coming weeks, documenting actual results and for meeting the forecast. Not surprisingly, once the number started to be measured and tracked, the results improved!