Dr. W. Edwards Deming, arguably, some say, the world's authority on modern management practices, is often incorrectly quoted as saying: "you can't manage what you can't measure."
In fact, he stated one of the seven deadly diseases of management was "Running a company on visible figures alone."
Deming also realized many important things, that must be managed, cannot be measured. Both those points are important.
- You can't measure everything of importance to management
- You must still manage those important things
Interestingly enough, Dr. Deming is also often quoted as saying: "In God we trust, all others bring data." Besides being a memorable quote, it does imply a requirement of data, and is meant to encourage people to find a way to get measurable data -- when possible.
This adds to an understanding of Deming's thought on the purpose of an organization, which is: "Organizations are a means to improve the lives we live."
