What gets measured, matters

“What gets measured, gets managed” is a famous quote from Peter Drucker’s 1954 book “The Practice of Management.”

When we seek improvement and forward motion it’s crucial to identify the key drivers to making that happen. Then by measuring them we can test tweaks and changes to see if they are moving us in the right direction.

I think a variation on Drucker’s phrase is also important. “What gets measured, matters.” If we are measuring it, we are indicating to ourselves that this is important. But if we are being intentional, we will decide what matters before we start measuring things.

Is how many followers or likes you got today as important as how many messages of thanks you received or interesting conversations you began?

Is how many people you can interrupt more important than how many people you can help?

Is the amount you earned this week as important as the impact you made on the people around you while you were doing it?

I encourage you to think about what matters before you decide to start measuring, because the things that have been engineered to be most easily measured, are often the least meaningful indicators.