Today organizations of all kinds are ruled by the belief that the path to success is
quantifying human performance publicizing the results and dividing up the rewards based on
the numbers. But in our zeal to instill the evaluation process with scientific rigor we've
gone from measuring performance to fixating on measuring itself--and this tyranny of metrics
now threatens the quality of our organizations and lives. In this brief accessible and
powerful book Jerry Muller uncovers the damage metrics are causing and shows how we can begin
to fix the problem. Filled with examples from business medicine education government and
other fields the book explains why paying for measured performance doesn't work why surgical
scorecards may increase deaths and much more. But Muller also shows that when used as a
complement to judgment based on personal experience metrics can be beneficial and he includes
an invaluable checklist of when and how to use them. The result is an essential corrective to a
harmful trend that increasingly affects us all.
