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Actually, Deming said much the opposite: It is wrong to suppose that if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it – a costly myth. p. 26 of The New Economic

Actually, Deming said much the opposite: It is wrong to suppose that if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it – a costly myth. p. 26 of The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education It wasn't Drucker either. https://medium.com/centre-for-public-impact/what-gets-measured-gets-managed-its-wrong-and-drucker-never-said-it-fe95886d3df6 https://medium.com/centre-for-public-impact/what-gets-measur... This whole mindless must measure, must measure mentality has been criticized since the 50s. Measurement is a tool. There are many tools.

rossdavidh 5y ago
In my experience, if it isn't measured, then it is assumed that the policy (whatever it is) is working. If you don't measure, you can't be surprised by "wow, it didn't work like we thought". Therefore, mistakes don't get recognized or corrected. There are many tools, but measurement is one of the only ones that brings unexpected bad news to the user, and that is invaluable.
mumblemumble 5y ago
I would argue that it's worthwhile to measure as much as you can, insofar as it facilitates orderly decisionmaking processes. The problem is that people tend to think that all measurement is necessarily quantitative. I think that this might be a version of the streetlight effect? Quantitative measurements tend to be much easier to collect and analyze than qualitative measurements. Oftentimes you can let it all run on autopilot, whereas doing good qualitative work always requires concentration, effort, and expertise.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > I would argue that it's worthwhile to measure as much as you can, insofar as it facilitates orderly decisionmaking processes. That would be true, if measurement was free. It never is, and it often is quite costly.
- dr_dshiv 5y ago
  What is qualitative measurement? As soon as it is quantitative, it isn't qualitative anymore, is it?
  - mumblemumble 5y ago
    Here's the first Google hit: https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-difference-between-qualitative-quantitative-measurement.html https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-difference-between-qual...

rossdavidh 5y ago

In my experience, if it isn't measured, then it is assumed that the policy (whatever it is) is working. If you don't measure, you can't be surprised by "wow, it didn't work like we thought". Therefore, mistakes don't get recognized or corrected. There are many tools, but measurement is one of the only ones that brings unexpected bad news to the user, and that is invaluable.

mumblemumble 5y ago

I would argue that it's worthwhile to measure as much as you can, insofar as it facilitates orderly decisionmaking processes. The problem is that people tend to think that all measurement is necessarily quantitative. I think that this might be a version of the streetlight effect? Quantitative measurements tend to be much easier to collect and analyze than qualitative measurements. Oftentimes you can let it all run on autopilot, whereas doing good qualitative work always requires concentration, effort, and expertise.

dragonwriter 5y ago
> I would argue that it's worthwhile to measure as much as you can, insofar as it facilitates orderly decisionmaking processes. That would be true, if measurement was free. It never is, and it often is quite costly.
dr_dshiv 5y ago
What is qualitative measurement? As soon as it is quantitative, it isn't qualitative anymore, is it?
- mumblemumble 5y ago
  Here's the first Google hit: https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-difference-between-qualitative-quantitative-measurement.html https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-difference-between-qual...