The problem with demanding “measurable results”, is that you’ll get precisely what you measure, quite possibly by doing more damage in some other way that you didn’t think to measure.
Agree. It’s true that optimizing too hard for one variable can lead to unexpected sadness, but it’s also true that if you don’t measure progress you don’t get anywhere :p
The problem with demanding “measurable results”, is that you’ll get precisely what you measure, quite possibly by doing more damage in some other way that you didn’t think to measure.
Possibly, but all else being equal, the expected utility should still be higher if you measure something than if you measure nothing.
Agree. It’s true that optimizing too hard for one variable can lead to unexpected sadness, but it’s also true that if you don’t measure progress you don’t get anywhere :p
But if you don’t measure anything, all you’ll get is things you didn’t measure.
Which means you’re not even guaranteed to be helping along the axis you’re trying to help.
This problem exists in businesses as well. Bill Gates has dealt with it before.