Against metrics: how measuring performance by numbers backfires
As I read through the 50-odd comments, I wound up with a kanban / 5 whys level thought.  All these points of discussion revolve around pluses and minuses of metrics, but the next level is "Why establish metrics at all?"<p>At a deeper (very generalized) level, we've been infected by production line, Deming style, efficiency focus.<p>If you are handling previously defined routines, great.  Optimizing can help you.<p>As soon as you are working with adding value, be it in code, education, product development, metrics are <i>all</i> premature optimization.<p>Promote the idea that you can't apply optimization techniques to creative steps and encourage managers to get off the numerical crutches and make value judgments.  Takes a better manager but then that's the point anyway, right?