“What gets measured gets managed,” is often used to promote better management through metrics. [[OKRs]], anyone? It turns out this quote is often misattributed to [[Peter Drucker]], a famous management consultant. Except Drucker didn’t believe in what gets measured gets managed. In his book, *The Effective Executive*, he says, > “… because ==knowledge work cannot be measured the way manual work can==, one cannot tell a knowledge worker in a few simple words whether he is doing the right job and how well he is doing it.” [^LeCunff] [^LeCunff]: [[Anne-Laure Le Cunff]]. 2021. “The Fallacy of ‘What Gets Measured Gets Managed.’” Ness Labs. March 11, 2021. [https://nesslabs.com/what-gets-measured-gets-managed](https://nesslabs.com/what-gets-measured-gets-managed). Accessed 7 Mar. 2021. Some things cannot be measured. The idea likely originated in a paper titled, “Dysfunctional Consequences of Performance Measurements,” by V. F. Ridgway. In reference to it, reporter [[Simon Caulkin]] wrote: > “What gets measured gets managed—even when it’s pointless to measure and manage it, and even if it harms the purpose of the organization to do so.” [^Caulkin] [^Caulkin]: [[Simon Caulkin]]. 2008. “The Rule Is Simple: Be Careful What You Measure.” The Guardian. February 10, 2008. [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/feb/10/businesscomment1](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/feb/10/businesscomment1). Related: - [“What gets measured gets managed” — It’s wrong and Drucker never said it](https://medium.com/centre-for-public-impact/what-gets-measured-gets-managed-its-wrong-and-drucker-never-said-it-fe95886d3df6) by [[Danny Buerkli]] --- ## Further reading [Campbell’s Law: The Dark Side of Metric Fixation](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/campbells-law/?ref=uxdesignweekly) by [[Page Laubheimer]] and [[Kate Moran]]