Jerry Z. Muller

The Tyranny of Metrics

1. IDEA 1

   Measuring everything can backfire

   Muller, a historian, argues that organisations have become obsessed with measuring performance through numbers. This metric fixation, he says, often produces worse results instead of better ones. Numbers can help, yet they can also distract from the real purpose of the work.

2. IDEA 2

   Numbers can replace judgement

   Muller explains that metrics are often used to replace the judgement of experienced professionals. Yet many important things, such as good teaching or care, are hard to capture in numbers.

3. IDEA 3

   Measured targets get distorted

   Muller describes the problem, associated with Donald Campbell and Charles Goodhart, that once a number is used to reward or punish, people start changing their behaviour to hit it. The number then stops measuring what it was meant to.

All 8 ideas from The Tyranny of Metrics →