DailyPost 332
WHAT IS NOT MEASURED IS NOT DONE!
What is not measured is not done is a factual proposition which all professionals accepted. Father of modern management said, “You can’t manage, what you can’t measure.” Success has first to be defined and it has to be tracked. The only to achieve the goal is data based on objective measurement. Progress has be be quantified and consequently, the process has be created or adjusted to produce the desired outcome. Otherwise, we tend to get stuck in a constant state of guessing.
American statistician W Edwards Deming, famously said “In God we trust, all others must bring data.” All our growth strategies are based on data & so is the apportioning for HR & other resources. If goals are made public, which is more so the case, in the transparent digital world, the risk is disappointing the clients, if the goals are not met. Once the matrix of success is in place, we either win or lose with no middle ground.
There is a tangential adage as well, “somethings that get measured get done.” There is ample truth in this argument. We measure the academic performance of the kids in schools, but more offend than not, it leads to commensurate improvements in the quality of teaching & the overall schooling ecosystem. Taylor’s model measuring training in reality could make training only 10% to 20% more effective. Measurement in itself is not a problem, the problem is in lack of willingness to use this data to continuously improve systems. The added problem is the lack of process both to interpret data and its application for continuous improvement.
Another dimension is what can’t be measured? One conspicuous area how to measure wisdom & ethical qualities. The diametrically opposite corollary to Peter Drucker, What can’t be measured isn’t worth managing. Google hits can hardly be a proxy for reputation, what about the satisfaction of serving one’s community & also the number of friends on the social media is certainly not a measure of value of friends. It’s a quagmire.
MEASUREMENT IS CARDINAL, WITH PROCESS, WISDOM & ETHICAL VALUES MAKES IT COMPLETE.
Sanjay Sahay