Dr. Deming

Dr. Deming

The Seven Deadly Sins of metrics programs are:

  1. Pride – Believing that a single number/metric is more important than any other factor.
  2. Envy – Instituting measures that facilitate the insatiable desire for another team’s people, tools or applications.
  3. Wrath – Using measures to create friction between groups or teams.
  4. Sloth – Unwillingness to act on or care about the measures you create.
  5. Greed – Allowing metrics to be used as a tool to game the system.
  6. Gluttony – Application of an excess of metrics.
  7. Lust – Pursuit of the number rather than the business goal.

In the end, these sins are a reflection of the organization’s culture. Bad metrics can generate bad behavior and reinforce an organizational culture issues. Adopting good measures is a step in the right direction however culture can’t be changed by good metrics alone. Shifting the focus on an organizations business goals, fostering transparency to reduce gaming and then using measures as tools rather than weapons can support changing the culture. Measurement can generate behavior that leads towards a healthier environment.  As leaders, measurement and process improvement professionals, we should push to shape their environment so that everyone can work effectively for the company.

The Shewhart PDCA Cycle (or Deming Wheel), set outs of model where measurement becomes a means to an end rather than an end in their own right. The Deming wheel popularized the Plan, Do Check, Act (PDCA) cycle which is focused on delivering business value. Using the PDCA cycle, organizational changes are first planned, executed, checked by measurement and then refined based on a positive feedback model. In his book The New Economics Deming wrote “Reward for good performance may be the same as reward to the weather man for a pleasant day.” Organizations that fall prey to the Seven Deadly Sins of metrics programs are apt to incent the wrong behavior.

(Thank you Dr. Deming).