Wrath

Wrath

Wrath is the inordinate and uncontrolled feelings of hatred and anger.  I suspect that you conjure a picture of someone striking out with potentially catastrophic results.  When applied to measurement, wrath is the use of data in a negative or self-destructive manner (rather than an act of wrathful measurement). Very few people are moved to measure by wrath, rather they are moved by wrath to use measurement badly. Wrath causes people to act in a manner that might not be in their or in the organization’s best interest. Both scenarios are bad.  Data and the information (good or bad) derived from that data can used as a weapon in a manner that destroys the credibility of the program and the measurement practitioners.  

Anger impairs one’s ability to process information and to exert cognitive control over their behavior. An angry person may lose his/her objectivity, empathy, prudence or thoughtfulness and may cause harm to others. Actions driven by extreme anger is easily recognized by observers, but rarely by those perpetrating the behavior. This is an example of being blind with rage.  There is no room in the workplace for rage. Protect your measurement program and your career by staying in control. When confronted with scenarios that induce rage you need to learn how to step back and see the whole situation. Being mad or angry is fine if those emotions do not cloud your judgment. Teaching yourself to always see things more calmly will help your realize the truth of the harm that you are causing to yourself and others through rage. I once saw a CIO fly off the hook when are project shared it’s measurement dashboard, the project reporting that they were behind schedule, defects were above projections and the number of potential risks were rising. The uncontrolled rant was awe inspiring however the CIO lost the support of his senior leaders and within a month he was gone. Control puts you in a position to react in a more rational manner.

Measurement data and the information derived from that data deliver the ability to understand why things happen: why a project is late, why a project costs what it does or even why a specific level of quality was achieved.  Measurement is a tool to take action to improve how work is done.  What it should not be is a weapon of indiscriminate destruction. Acting in a rage changes all of that. When you strike out in an uncontrolled manner you have transformed that data into a weapon with very little guidance. Think of the difference between the indiscriminate nature of a land mine and the precision of phasers of the Star Ship Enterprise. Wrath turns a potentially valuable tool into something far less reliable. For example, a purposeful misrepresentation of the meaning of data can lead to team or organization making wrong decisions. Other examples include errors of omissions (leaving out salient facts) or inclusion (including irrelevant data that changes the conclusions drawn from the data).  Whether omission or inclusion, poor use of data erodes the value of the measurement program though politicization or placing doubt about the value of measurement into people’s minds. Remember that all analysis requires interpretation, however the interpretations are generally based on an assumption that people will act logically and consistently. That includes your behavior. Analysis based on an obviously false assumptions just to make a point does no one any good in the long run.  For example, assuming productivity is constant across all sized of projects so that you can show that a project under-performed to get back at someone will destroy your credibility even if you win the argument. Be true to the data or be the point of a failure in trust.  

Do not confuse passion and rage; they are not the same. You must have passion to be effective but what you can’t do, is to lose control of your emotions to the point that you stop thinking before you act. The deadly sin of wrath is a sin that reflection of bad behavior, if you let wrath affect your behavior you will begin a spiral that ends with a failure of trust.