Your measurements aren’t the problem

What you measure on your team or at your company isn’t the problem.

Measurements are benign by themselves.

You don't “get more of anything you measure”.

People don't “game every measurement”.

The crucial point is what you attach to the measurement.

What is the incentive around the measurement?

Are people being promoted, hired, fired, or receiving bonuses based on a metric?

Are budgets being cut, projects being approved, or headcount expanding because of a metric?

The measurement isn't the concern.

It's the incentives you attach to it.

When a measurement becomes a “KPI” then it’s measuring performance.

Once a team’s performance is attached to a number, then it will influence your team’s dynamics.

We should measure lots of things.

But very few measurements should have incentives tied to it.

I’m here,

Sawyer

from The Data Shop