This is spot on. I've been thinking recently about an article I may rewrite about why KPIs are nonsense, and this ties in very much with my thoughts so far. And I liive the Alcibiades example!
I often find with things like KPIs (and any other measurement) it's useful to start from assuming that it's not so much that they're _wrong_ or entirely unhelpful per se, but that we (the collective we) have probably misjudged the boundaries within which they are right/useful - often, painfully, believing that they are universally useful.
The challenge to really think about where those boundaries are is frequently a fruitful inquiry :)
Good point. My old prof Tom Shippey (the Tolkien scholar) once said that that kind of measurement-based management works well for tasks where both input and output are quantifiable and predictable, neither of which are true for research or education.
This is spot on. I've been thinking recently about an article I may rewrite about why KPIs are nonsense, and this ties in very much with my thoughts so far. And I liive the Alcibiades example!
Thanks, Robin :)
I often find with things like KPIs (and any other measurement) it's useful to start from assuming that it's not so much that they're _wrong_ or entirely unhelpful per se, but that we (the collective we) have probably misjudged the boundaries within which they are right/useful - often, painfully, believing that they are universally useful.
The challenge to really think about where those boundaries are is frequently a fruitful inquiry :)
Good point. My old prof Tom Shippey (the Tolkien scholar) once said that that kind of measurement-based management works well for tasks where both input and output are quantifiable and predictable, neither of which are true for research or education.