The fallacy of “what gets measured gets managed” - Ness Labs

"What gets measured gets managed" is not only erroneously attributed to famous management consultant Peter Drucker, but it is also flawed.

The idea possibly came from a paper published in 1956 by V.F. Ridgway. He was pointing out that we should be more careful when using quantitative measures. The quote of journalist Simon Caulkin read: "What gets measured gets managed - even when it's pointless to measure and manage it, and even if it harms the purpose of the organisation to do so."

Blind measurement can lead to problems at the individual, corporate, and societal levels.

• The wrong metrics can cause unintended consequences. For example, when the British government offered a bounty for every dead cobra in Delhi, enterprising started breeding cobra snakes to get the prize, leading to more cobras.
• People are more than numbers. Much of a company's success relies on human factors that are sometimes impossible to measure, such as enthusiasm.
• When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. When a goal is set, measures can distort incentives.