Succeeding with Agile

The Purpose of Measuring

Before diving into the topic of what to measure, let’s consider why we measure something. Ask most people what the purpose of measuring is, and they will probably say that it is to determine how big, how heavy, how long, or how much of something there is. This is an overly ambitious definition of measuring. The real purpose of measuring is to reduce uncertainty. A measurement does not need to be exact for it to help in reducing uncertainty. As an example, consider the soup I had for lunch today. I was at an unfamiliar restaurant, and the tomato basil soup was appealing. I asked the waitress how big the cup and bowl were so I could decide between them. Rather than say something like “five ounces and eight ounces,” she ...