The Good and Bad of Choosing Measurements - Traps and Opportunities of Measuring What Matters

7 snips

Oct 17, 2025

Discover the complexities behind the management mantra 'what is measured is managed.' Measuring team productivity isn't neutral; it can change behavior and lead to unintended consequences like inflated metrics. Collaboration is key—team members should help choose meaningful measurements to align with desired behaviors. Learn how visibility of metrics triggers management responses and how to design measurements that genuinely reflect priorities. Engaging with your team ensures actions reflect what you truly care about.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Measurement Is An Intervention

Measuring something automatically triggers management of that thing.
Measurement is not neutral; it changes behavior before any deliberate intervention.

INSIGHT

Targets Distort Behavior

Turning a metric into a target changes how people behave around that metric.
Visibility and intent (e.g., increase PRs) amplify behavior changes and unintended effects.

ANECDOTE

Story Points Get Gamified

Story points often get inflated when teams are measured on velocity.
Teams may also deflate estimates out of fear, producing meaningless velocity swings.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

In this episode, I dive into the management mantra that "what is measured is managed" and explain why this simple assertion often leads to a complex trap. We discuss why the act of measuring team productivity is never neutral—it's an intervention that immediately changes behavior, often resulting in unintended consequences like gaming the metrics. We'll explore how to collaborate with your team to find measurements that truly drive desired behaviors.

Understand why the phrase "what is measured is managed" means that measuring something triggers management of that thing, in varying degrees.
Learn why the act of measuring something is an intervention, especially when done with the intent of turning it into a target (e.g., increasing PRs or decreasing bugs), and how this action is shown to change behaviors around the thing being measured.
Discover how measurement can lead to unintended consequences, such as when tracking velocity via story points causes team members to inflate or deflate their estimates, making the measurement itself less meaningful.
Explore why giving ownership of metrics to the people acting to improve them makes sense, and how you can collaborate with your team to determine what kinds of measurements should be taken.
Recognize that if you want something to survive—such as paying down tech debt—you must feed it with time, resources, and attention, ensuring your actions line up with what you claim to care about.
Understand that since your calendar and dashboards will get crowded if you measure everything, the exercise of choosing metrics is as much about accepting that you have to choose what you will actively manage and invest in.

📮 Ask a Question

If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com.

📮 Join the Discord

If you want to be a part of a supportive community of engineers (non-engineers welcome!) working to improve their lives and careers, join us on the Developer Tea Discord community by visiting https://developertea.com/discord today!

🧡 Leave a Review

If you're enjoying the show and want to support the content head over to iTunes and leave a review! It helps other developers discover the show and keep us focused on what matters to you.