Doesn’t move the needle – This action doesn’t impact earnings; likely a bad thing. Everyone likes to move the needle and make earnings go up. It’s kind of like going faster in a car, it’s more fun. (For a guy, anyway, according to my wife.) It can also apply to just about any other area of the business, or even your personal life. Moving the needle is a metaphor for a gauge, any gauge. It doesn’t move your needle when you eat out and the meal is just so-so. Likewise, if adding five more workers doesn’t move the needle on the assembly line (by increasing production or raising quality), then why add the five people?

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