Comment Re:The hammer priciple. (Score 2, Interesting) 556
Management will always get what it measures, but not always what it wants.
In the town I grew up in, they used to measure the fire department by the number of runs they did per day. It wasn't long until the fire chief started rolling a 30 foot truck for every fender bender in the city. A 30 foot truck did wonders for traffic already snarled from the fender bender.
Poorly chosen metrics are worse than no metrics at all and poorly chosen managers love poorly chosen metrics. It gives them comfort in managing an organization that they don't really understand. It also keeps them from having to "be a manager" and making hard decisions. The metrics can decide who gets a raise and who gets the additional headcount.
How would the world be different if the Pope had measured Michelangelo's progress in the Sistine Chapel by the square feet painted per day? Maybe the number of feet painted per day?
Maybe a manager could measure the productivity of pregnant women by the number of months to make a baby?
I'm not saying that you shouldn't have metrics. Have tons of metrics! Some things should be measured all the time (like system uptime) and some should be sampled occasionally (like user satisfaction). But, all metrics need to be interpreted by a competent manager instead of an excel formula.
Management by metrics only works for people too stupid or too honest to not manipulate the metrics.
In the town I grew up in, they used to measure the fire department by the number of runs they did per day. It wasn't long until the fire chief started rolling a 30 foot truck for every fender bender in the city. A 30 foot truck did wonders for traffic already snarled from the fender bender.
Poorly chosen metrics are worse than no metrics at all and poorly chosen managers love poorly chosen metrics. It gives them comfort in managing an organization that they don't really understand. It also keeps them from having to "be a manager" and making hard decisions. The metrics can decide who gets a raise and who gets the additional headcount.
How would the world be different if the Pope had measured Michelangelo's progress in the Sistine Chapel by the square feet painted per day? Maybe the number of feet painted per day?
Maybe a manager could measure the productivity of pregnant women by the number of months to make a baby?
I'm not saying that you shouldn't have metrics. Have tons of metrics! Some things should be measured all the time (like system uptime) and some should be sampled occasionally (like user satisfaction). But, all metrics need to be interpreted by a competent manager instead of an excel formula.
Management by metrics only works for people too stupid or too honest to not manipulate the metrics.
