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An Appropriate Use of Metrics

Patrick Kua user avatar by
Patrick Kua
·
Feb. 20, 13 · Interview
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management love their metrics. the thinking goes something like this, "we need a number to measure how we’re doing. numbers focus people and help us measure success." whilst well intentioned, management by numbers unintuitively leads to problematic behavior and ultimately detracts from broader project and organizational goals. metrics inherently aren’t a bad thing; just often, inappropriately used. this essay demonstrates many of the issues caused by management’s traditional use of metrics and offers an alternative to address these dysfunctions.
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original author: patrick kua

patrick kua leads development teams drawing upon agile methods to deliver valuable software for customers. he is author of the retrospective handbook: a guide for agile teams

contents

  • what's wrong with how we use metrics?
  • be careful what you measure
  • guidelines for a more appropriate use of metrics
    • explicitly link metrics to goals
    • favor tracking trends over absolute numbers
    • use shorter tracking periods
    • change metrics when they stop driving change
  • conclusion

tell me how you measure me and i will tell you how i behave.

eliyahu goldratt


full article on martinfowler.com

Metric (unit)

Published at DZone with permission of Patrick Kua. See the original article here.

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