https://cruciallearning.com/blog/michigan-department-of-health-and-human-services-crucial-conversations/ VitalSmarts is now Crucial Learning Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:49:20 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 https://cruciallearning.com/blog/michigan-department-of-health-and-human-services-crucial-conversations/#comment-3705 Thu, 16 Oct 2014 02:27:00 +0000 http://www.crucialskills.com/?p=5528#comment-3705 An interesting perspective but one that indeed has value but I would suggest that language has some deeper merits than just measure. This is shown in your example where I would suggest that the words “credible measures” are more important than just measures. Saying that government agencies are inefficient because they do not have metrics is a very limited view. I have worked in government agencies for many years and they are buried in metrics. The fundamental problem is not the measuring but that lovely word “credible” and to it I would add another called “meaningful”. They are just simple words but mean the difference between hero and zero. Too much is based around non-credible targets that are ignored as they offer no incentive for anything beyond someone’s wishful thinking and on meaningless measures that just go to fill an obscure economists pipe-dream but do nothing for anyone else. They are both based on good intention but we all know that about the road that is paved with good intentions. By all means spread the message of measure but don’t forget to put some realism and end use into them as well. (A view from an obscure public servant in Australia)

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