Little Heresy: The Pernicious Power of Measurement to Mess up Policy

Peter Drucker said, ‘what gets measured gets managed’. But it is probably more accurate to say that we are encouraged only to manage what we can measure, and ignore the rest. And ‘the rest’ is a lot – what is due to a complex interweaving of factors, what is qualitative and subjective but nevertheless central to what is happening, what is emerging and never been seen before. Indeed measurement may blind us to what is actually happening and cause us to ignore the reality of complex social determinants, and choose policies that are measurable rather than effective.

Complexity theory provides a more nuanced and holistic and embedded view of what we need to do to develop, implement policy that is adaptive, systemic, and contextual.

Dr Jean Boulton is a Fellow with Cranfield School of Management, Bath University Social and Policy Sciences and Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Studies. She is lead author of Embracing Complexity and currently writing The Dao of Complexity to be published in 2024.

Host or Publisher Little Heresies, Northumbria University