World existed before Metrics

There’s a saying:

“You can't improve what you don't measure.”

However, when we measure weird things, we need to remember:

“People optimize their actions based on how their work is measured.”

And, even when we measure a proper things, we may over-focus on automated data collection, beautiful dashboards, expensive SaaS solutions or massive investments in data platforms.

While a simple spreadsheet filled with a gut-feeling-driven metrics on the precision of orders of magnitude is most often enough for the first iteration, just to start having valuable discussions around the metrics.

Manual spreadsheet approach shortens time-to-value and saves hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I will end up with my own saying:

“The world exists even when not measured.”

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