There’s an old saying in the corporate world, often attributed to management guru Peter Drucker: “What gets measured gets managed”. The full quote is, apparently, “What gets measured gets managed – even when it’s pointless to measure and manage it, and even if it harms the purpose of the organisation to do so.” Some attribute the full quote to Drucker, while others attribute it to Simon Caulkin – whatever the case it’s great food for thought.
The idea behind the quote is that it’s really important to take the time to establish why you’re measuring something and what you’re looking to achieve. If data drives behaviour, then what behaviour are you looking to change?
By way of an example, my colleague Chris Hewitt has shared a great story with me that paints this picture perfectly. One organisation asks its staff to rate their wellbeing every day on a scale of 1 to 5. If you score lower than a 4, then your manager will ring you to do a welfare check. While the intention is good, the unintended consequence is that no one rates themselves less than a 4 because they don’t want to talk to their manager as to why they are a 3 or less that day. Not ideal!
In our line of work, we’re always asking – ‘how can we use wellbeing data to understand and tell the story of how a group is really going?’
The answers usually lie in a mix of quality quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative gives you the roadmap and the qualitative gives you the topography. The storytelling element of qualitative responses really helps you understand what’s challenging people – and what’s working!
