I'm the sort of person who has favourite Laws of Social Science. To be specific, my two favourite Laws of Social Science are Goodhart's Law and Campbell's Law. To summarise them, Goodhart's Law states that if a measurement is used as a goal, the meaning of that measure changes (usually for the worse). Campbell's Law … Continue reading Measuring RTO
Category: Cult of measurement
I've banged on for many years about the weird cult that is Net Promoter Score, a magical metric with organisational healing powers. In one number, it is claimed, the mysteries of business can be unlocked. Ask your customers their likelihood to recommend you and wealth and prosperity will be yours. Except... The world of recommendations … Continue reading Just recommend!
I'm the sort of person who has favourite Laws of Social Science. Don't judge me. The two "Laws" (let's be honest, they're rules of thumb) are Goodhart's Law and Campbell's Law. The first, Goodhart's Law, is best described in paraphrase from Marilyn Strathem:When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. … Continue reading Goodhart, Campbell and Elections
Back in those strange days when I worked at Microsoft there was a concept of giving and receiving kudos. This wasn't a soft skills thing that encouraged people to face the fear and start giving rich and rewarding feedback to one another. Kudos was a system that allowed for the automation and measurement of the … Continue reading Kudos where kudos is due
The theme of facial recognition appears to be in the news at the moment. Not only, though, from the introduction of Apple’s latest thousand pound fondle slab, but from news about a research project that has been using machine learning techniques reportedly to identify sexuality. Now first of all there is a lot of media … Continue reading All in the eyes
I'm currently reading Christian Madsbjerg's excellent and highly recommended Sensemaking. At the core of the book is the proposition that whilst the modern world has become obsessed with what Madsbjerg terms thin data (mostly - numbers), to make sense of the work around us we also need to take account of thick data - emotions, relationships, context - … Continue reading Through thick and thin
One of the more ludicrous things that's come out the Brexit shenanigans is the recent idea that the exit from the EU might allow retailers to begin selling goods in imperial measures. Whilst I'm sure this will appeal to the Al Murray-esque (or the ones that don't get he's satire), I fear for the sanity … Continue reading Imperial measures
The hope here is that HR can empower organisations with robust tech and data to turn the art of people management into a science Perusing an article from HR Magazine yesterday about the impact that technology is having on the HR industry, I started to wonder what it is that people really mean when they say that … Continue reading When I grow up I want to be a science
"How do you eat an elephant?" The metaphor is oft repeated in working life, and elephant eating seems to be a stock in trade of the average large organisation. But nobody seems to stop and ask "Why the bloody hell are we eating elephant? Isn't there something a little smaller?" Simplification has become the mantra. … Continue reading Everything is a complex system
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