"What gets measured gets managed": Where the quote came from

"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."