In one of his short posts, Seth Godin argues, Is something important because you measure it, or is it measured because it’s important?
One of the rituals that I do every morning is to stand on a weighing scale. Not that I have weight issues but I feel that measuring something so frequently gives me control over that metric. After all, what can’t be measured, can’t be managed right?
After a while, you start observing minor deviations. Some make you happy and others might disappoint you.
Measuring my weight offers me a false sense of control. What I need to measure instead is my calorie intake, fat portion in my body and other metrics that are a little difficult to access.
I feel popular employee surveys work similarly. Just because you can measure a metric, is there anything substantial you can do about it?
Attrition can be measured and hence it is an important metric?
I haven’t seen a good metric/index for managerial effectiveness. Not important?
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