Stop the fixation on metrics!

Hello! Welcome to the Sweet Spot #40, a fortnightly look at the world of data.

Is it right that we are all measured by what we do? Do we focus too much on key metrics and not enough on non-tangible results? Large enterprises operate on key performance indicators: employee’s progress is often boiled down to tracking one or two numbers that represent progress (or not). “Every company is a data company,” so metric-focus must be a good thing, right? Any data-driven organisation can only call itself such if it is highly focused on KPIs. Perhaps that's not the case! In this week’s Sweet Spot, here are 3 articles challenging this point of view.

Life and society are increasingly governed by numbers (The Economist, 5 minute read)

As everything becomes measured, individuals lose the freedom to act individually and “faith in experts is replaced by faith in data.” As a result, power transfers from individuals to those who maintain the systems. This article, based on Steffan Mau’s book “The Metric Society”, focusses on global issues, but the book itself goes into detail about data in every aspect of our lives, right down to the personal level. Is it time to tell our managers to stop measuring us?

Against metrics: how measuring performance by numbers backfires (Aeon, 5 minutes)

Jerry Muller’s book, The Tyranny of Metrics, has a similar outlook. The most obvious problem with “metric fixation” is how people gamify their tasks to fit the metric above all else. An example is the publication of surgery success rates: well-intentioned, but it has led to surgeon’s refusing to undertake risky procedures. There are smaller and subtler issues where employees focus on KPIs instead of more important organisational goals. At its worst metric-fixation kills innovation because anything out-of-the-ordinary is discouraged; goals become so narrow they are discouraging rather than encouraging. “Might the fixation have even have led to economic stagnation?” asks the article.

Why I Quit Google to Work for Myself (Michael Lynch, 11minutes)

Here’s a case study of the problems. Michael Lynch had a great job working at Google as a software engineer, but ultimately left because the metrics of his success didn’t match the metrics he was measured on. Lynch had an incredible track record, but his promotions were decided on specific metrics. In the end, despite impact in his business, the metrics prevented him from being promoted and he left: the system was too rigid to accommodate him. (Hat Tip to Robert Kosara for sharing this one)