Optimizing Metrics, Destroying Systems

Goodhart's Law in action: when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. How optimization can destroy what it aims to improve.

<p><strong>Goodhart's Law in action: when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. How optimization can destroy what it aims to improve.</strong></p><p>A manager's complaint about hitting all the numbers but missing the point opens a window into Goodhart's Law and its cousins. We examine how the drive to optimize metrics often destroys the very systems those metrics were meant to measure.</p><p>This episode reveals why hitting all your targets can mean you're failing at what actually matters.</p>