Book : The
Tyranny of Metrics
Author – Jerry Z
Muller
Performance measurement is the buzz word and the time we
conceive to funeral we keep measuring. The metrics used may be different based
on the status or lifestyle, however we measure. Is it the right measure, will
all these measure meaningful everyone has their own opinion on that. Metrics
and measurement has become dominant in our life.
The Tyranny of metrics is an introspect on the application
of metrics, when it is linked to the performance of pay may lead to gaming. The
author provides examples on the metrics that were used in Military, Academics, schools
and corporate,
where the dominance of metrics has boomeranged. Greater
attention and metrication of the measures linking to performance reward has
become gaming. Many of the times, we remember a great quote “If you cannot
measure it, you cannot improve it” however we forget that it could be a game
based on metrics fixation. Because we life in the age of measured
accountability of reward for measured performance. But the identification of
accountability with metrics and transparency is unreliable. Many a times, with
the data flow from lower level to upper level there will be too many screening
and analysis the real meaning of the metric gets lost or the decision maker
will be biased as the true data on the metric doesn’t flow. The metric fixation
is the seemingly irresistible pressure to measure performance, to publicize it,
and to reward it, often in the face of evidence that this just doesn’t work
very well. In 1986 the American management guru, Tom Peters, embraced the
motto, “What gets measured gets done,” which became a cornerstone belief of
metrics. Some of the common flaws of the measurement systems are
·
Measuring the most easily measurable.
·
Measuring the simple when the desired outcome is
complex
·
Measuring inputs rather than outcomes.
·
Degrading information quality through
standardization.
·
Gaming through creaming
·
Improving numbers through omission or distortion
of data
The problem is not measurement, but excessive measurement
and inappropriate measurement—not metrics, but metric fixation. The key
components of metric fixations are
·
the belief that it is possible and desirable to
replace judgment, acquired by personal experience and talent, with numerical
indicators of comparative performance based upon standardized metrics;
·
the belief that making such metrics public
(transparent) assures that institutions are actually carrying out their
purposes;
·
the belief that the best way to motivate people
within these organizations is by attaching rewards and penalties to their
measured performance,
Goal displacement through diversion of effort to what gets
measured. Goal displacement comes in many varieties. When performance is judged
by a few measures, and the stakes are high, people will focus on satisfying
those measures—often at the expense of other, more important organizational
goals that are not measured. The result is that the metric means comes to
replace the organizational ends that those means must to serve.
Checklist for when
and how to use metrics ?
o What kind of information are you
thinking of measuring?
o How
useful is the information?
o How
useful are more metrics?
o What
are the costs of not relying upon
standardized measurement?
o To
what purposes will the measurement and to whom will the information be made transparent?
o What
are the costs of acquiring the metrics?
o Ask
why demanding performance metrics.
“Measurement is not an alternative to judgement:
measurement demands judgement: judgement about whether to measure, what to
measure, how to evaluate the significance of what’s been measured, whether
rewards and penalties will be attached to the results, and to whom to make the
measurements available”. Identifying, measuring, and discussing good quality
metrics with your staff is key to being able to manage your organization
effectively. If we focus on this Metric,
will it drive the desired
behaviour.
A good book to read, and if you don’t like to read every
chapter read the last chapter – which provides great summary of the book !!
