Measurement Madness: Recognizing and Avoiding the Pitfalls of Performance Measurement

Chapter 1The Road to Insanity

Performance measurement is everywhere: when we look at companies' financial statements, read reports on average waiting times in hospitals, carry out performance appraisals at work, or look at schools' records when deciding where to educate our children. The practice of collecting, analyzing and reporting information on the performance of individuals, groups, organizations, sectors and nations has been around for a long time – but what difference is it making?

You may be intrigued, enthusiastic or frustrated with measurement, by the behaviours it engenders and the results it leads to. Perhaps you are a proponent of the old adage that “what gets measured gets done” or you may take the alternative view that measurement only leads to dysfunction. Maybe you have used a performance report to make an important decision only to be let down by the result, or perhaps you have been pleasantly surprised when customer performance ratings of restaurants have helped you have an extraordinary dining experience whilst on holiday. Whatever your starting position, this book will not only present real-life stories of madness brought about by measurement, but will also discuss ways to navigate your way around the pitfalls so that you may, once again, use measurement as a means to improve your organization's performance.

In order to set the scene and outline many of the issues covered in this book, we would like to describe a fictional scenario, which is based on the ...