There's an oft-used quote, which has been attributed at times to either the management guru Peter Drucker and the so-called "Father of Quality Improvement" W. Edwards Deming in its various iterations that says, "What gets measured gets managed." The problem is that neither man actually said it. Let's take a look at what they actually said - we will start with Deming first. Deming is famous for, among many other things, his "14 Points for Management", as well as the "7 Deadly Diseases of Management". If you review his "14 points", number eleven states the following:
Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute leadership. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers, numerical goals. Substitute leadership.
Does that sound like someone who agreed with the statement that "What gets measured gets managed"? If it helps you to answer the question, go ahead and substitute the word "metric" for "work standards" or "numerical goals." If you review his "7 Deadly Diseases," it is even more clear. Take a look at number five:
Management by use only of visible figures, with little or no consideration of figures that are unknown or unknowable.
Again, substitute "metrics" for "visible figures" to make things a little more clear. The common phrase that is "wrongly" attributed to Deming is the following: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” The problem is that even though Deming actually said that, the most important part of his statement is frequently left out. He actually said, "It is wrong to suppose that if you can't measure it, you can't manage it - a costly myth." There is no question that Deming believed in using data to help drive improvement. How do you obtain data? Measurement! The problem is that measuring things and looking critically at data is not even close to being enough. Managers also have to lead. Deming also knew that there are many things that can't be measured that still have to be managed. As Albert Einstein reportedly said (and even that is questionable), "“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”
Okay, so we've put the Deming quote to rest, what about Drucker? According to the Drucker Institute, he never said it either (see the blog post "Measurement Myopia" on the Drucker Institute website)! And while Drucker, like Deming, believed in the use of data and measurement to drive performance, he also recognized that leadership was just as important. He once said, "Your first role [as a manager] is the personal one. It is the relationship with people, the development of mutual confidence, the identification of people, the creation of a community. This is something only you can do." He went on, "It [leadership] cannot be measured or easily defined. But it is not only a key function. It is one only you can perform."
As long ago as 1956, V.F. Ridgeway wrote in an article ("Dysfunctional Consequences of Performance Managements") published in the journal Administrative Science Quarterly, "“Quantitative measures of performance are tools, and are undoubtedly useful. But research indicates that indiscriminate use and undue confidence and reliance in them result from insufficient knowledge of the full effects and consequences. Judicious use of a tool requires awareness of possible side effects and reactions. Otherwise, indiscriminate use may result in side effects and reactions outweighing the benefits...the cure is sometimes worse than the disease.”
As journalist Simon Caulkin wrote in an article for The Guardian almost 15 years ago, "The full proposition is: '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.'" Anne-Laure Cunff talks about some of these adverse consequences:
1. The wrong metrics can lead to unintended consequences. Recall the so-called "Cobra effect" mentioned in one of my earlier posts. Several years ago, the British government proposed to offer a bounty for every dead cobra in Delhi, as a way to reduce the number of these deadly snakes and therefore the number of fatalities from being bitten. The British authorities soon found out that locals started breeding snakes (and then killing them) in order to get the bounty!
2. People are more than numbers. For example, it's hard to quantify "organizational culture" but there is absolutely no question that it is one of the most important drivers of high performance. Similarly, things like enthusiasm, motivation, and commitment are also difficult to quantify, but they are no less important to individual performance in an organization.
3. When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. I've posted in the past on Goodhart's Law (which in some circles is known as Campbell's Law), which basically states that when a measure becomes a target or goal, it ceases to be a good measure (see also my post on the "Tyranny of Metrics").
For those of you who regularly read my blog (thank you, by the way!), you know that I am a big fan of quotes. However, I think it's important to be careful about when you read a quote, particularly on the Internet. Quotes are often taken out of context and may even be incomplete. And, as a as result, they may perpetuate the a myth. Today's post is a clear example of that. I am a big proponent of using data to drive improvement, but there is more to leadership and management than just numbers. As it turns out, both Drs. Deming and Drucker would wholeheartedly agree with me on that point.
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