Over the past few decades, formal institutions have increasingly been subjected to performance measurements that define success or failure according to narrow and arbitrary metrics. The outcome should have been predictable: institutions have done what they can to boost their performance metrics, often at the expense of performance itself.
SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND – In 1986, the American management guru Tom Peters popularized the organizational theorist Mason Haire’s dictum that, “What gets measured gets done,” and with it a credo of measured performance that I call “metric fixation.” In time, the devotees of measured performance would arrive at a naive article of faith that is nonetheless appealing for its mix of optimism and scientism: “Anything that can be measured can be improved.”
In the intervening decades, this faith-based conceit has developed into a dogma about the relationship between measurement and performance. Evangelists of “disruption” and “best practices” have carried the new gospel to ever more distant shores. If you work in health care, education, policing, or the civil service, you have probably been subjected to the policies and practices wrought by metric-centrism.
There are three tenets to the metrical canon. The first holds that it is both possible and desirable to replace judgment – acquired through personal experience and talent – with numerical indicators of comparative performance based on standardized data. Second, making such metrics public and transparent ensures that institutions are held accountable. And, third, the best way to motivate people within organizations is to attach monetary or reputational rewards and penalties to their measured performance.
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How should we understand the dysfunctionality that has beset Western democracies? The answer requires considering key developments during the past century in politics, economics, culture, law, and the energy that powers our daily lives.
traces the historical roots of the West’s current problems to the rise of neoliberalism in the 1970s.
Ukraine’s current counteroffensive, in which its forces have regained control of some 3,400 square miles (8,800 square kilometers) of the country’s territory, has raised hopes that a Russian defeat is possible, if not inevitable. But while Russia’s occupation has been weakened, Ukraine’s path to victory for remains long, arduous, and rife with pitfalls.
Russia’s shutdown of its main gas pipeline to Europe has further darkened the eurozone’s already-gloomy economic outlook. With inflation soaring, a recession appearing increasingly likely, and financing conditions beginning to diverge, we asked PS commentators just how much danger the European economy is in.
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SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND – In 1986, the American management guru Tom Peters popularized the organizational theorist Mason Haire’s dictum that, “What gets measured gets done,” and with it a credo of measured performance that I call “metric fixation.” In time, the devotees of measured performance would arrive at a naive article of faith that is nonetheless appealing for its mix of optimism and scientism: “Anything that can be measured can be improved.”
In the intervening decades, this faith-based conceit has developed into a dogma about the relationship between measurement and performance. Evangelists of “disruption” and “best practices” have carried the new gospel to ever more distant shores. If you work in health care, education, policing, or the civil service, you have probably been subjected to the policies and practices wrought by metric-centrism.
There are three tenets to the metrical canon. The first holds that it is both possible and desirable to replace judgment – acquired through personal experience and talent – with numerical indicators of comparative performance based on standardized data. Second, making such metrics public and transparent ensures that institutions are held accountable. And, third, the best way to motivate people within organizations is to attach monetary or reputational rewards and penalties to their measured performance.
To continue reading, register now.
As a registered user, you can enjoy more PS content every month – for free.
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