[danieljeff]

He is referencing a famous quote often attributed to W. Edwards Deming. He actually never said it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming

I've seen it attributed to Peter Drucker as well.

I think the general notion that it is more difficult to improve things that you can't/don't measure is fairly accurate.

[jdmichal]

> I think the general notion that it is more difficult to improve things that you can't/don't measure is fairly accurate.

To be somewhat pedantic:

The difficulty of improving a thing does not change based on you measuring it. If I, say, measure the response time of a service, it's still just as difficult as it was before to improve the response time of the service. Furthermore, any improvement you do make will not change based on you measuring it. If I do improve the response time of the service, it will be just as improved whether or not I measure the change.

So, measuring does nothing but allow you to quantify the improvement you have made. It doesn't make improving a thing easier, and it doesn't make improvements better.

That said, there's plenty of scenarios where impartial measurements are critical. If you don't know what to improve, broad measurement across the entire system can provide an answer. If there's indecisiveness about which action will provide the best improvement, then impartial measuring will provide an answer. If you don't trust your perception, or cannot perceive the result, then impartial measuring can also provide an answer.

[strttn]

Taking measurements will usually prompt questions of "how do I change the results over time?" So, although the difficulty of improving the thing doesn't change; the chance of taking action to improve the thing does change for the better.

Measurements will usually encourage attention and effort to change in a way that non-measured things are unlikely to.

On that basis, I'd argue that even things that are very difficult to measure quantitatively would benefit if a suitable proxy was found that could be measured.

Of course, you do have to be careful that your proxy is suitable!

[rckclmbr]

I want to increase the amount of money in my bank account. I'm using Mint to measure. Just because I'm measuring it doesn't make it easier to get money in there.

That said, it helps me keep budgets more. If I don't check mint periodically through the month, making sure I'm on track for goals, then I have a tendency to overspend.