How measuring performance with numbers kills innovation

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How measuring performance with numbers kills innovation
By Jerry Z Muller


More and more companies, government agencies, educational institutions and philanthropic organizations are today in the grip of a new phenomenon. I’ve termed it ‘metric fixation’. The key components of metric fixation are the belief that it is possible – and desirable – to replace professional judgment (acquired through personal experience and talent) with numerical indicators of comparative performance based upon standardised data (metrics); and that the best way to motivate people within these organisations is by attaching rewards and penalties to their measured performance. The rewards can be monetary, in the form of pay for performance, say, or reputational, in…

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April 30, 2018 at 09:55PM
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