Recently Paul McKaughan wrote a paper on metrics and control that I think fits the purpose of our sailing friends blog. The paper is rather long so I am adding it to the Papers & Reports page. Let me just give you some sample statements from the paper, so you have an idea of Paul’s thinking:

“What you measure you become” [by Paul McKaughan]

Jim is a technological, creative and networking genius. His track record of effective innovation is stellar. He is way out in front of most mission types I know. From Jim, this affirmation, delivered with great vehemence, blew me away.

That statement has an ominous, inevitability to it. It sure got me thinking about how we use metrics and the impact they have on us. Is that statement even true, do we become what we measure? Throughout my whole missionary career I have been an advocate for metrics in missions. Faith Goals have been a big discipline and huge motivator in my life. Have I somehow missed the downside of measurement?

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Author Nicholas Eberstadt nailed the contemporary society we see all around us when he says, “Though he may not always recognize his bondage, modern man lives under a tyranny of numbers.” In insisting on numerical evaluation are we being shaped by our society’s “bondage” to numbers? This tyranny is derived from the belief that numbers are concrete and exact rather than relative representations of movement or scale. Another wise man affirmed. “What you measure becomes important, but it may not be significant.”

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Some time ago I came on a quote about metrics that convicted me. It sadly rings true in my personal experience.

“Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you can’t control it. If you can’t control it, you can’t improve it.” –H. James Harrington

The desire for control over a very complex set of realities resides deep in the heart of most leaders. We want to manage well the resources God has placed in our care. In our most honest moments we are uneasy with how little we really do control as leaders. Metrics promise to give us leverage with the people we are supposed to be managing. The desire to establish corporate accountability and organizational discipline can pander to that deep-seated felt need to be in control. Using metrics to meet our fleshly need to feel in control can make us oppressors rather than enablers, overlords rather than servants. The unforeseen consequences of measurement can shape who we are becoming as people.

See McKhaughan’s full document in Papers & Reports.

Enjoy the reading.

Alex