Somewhere in your organization, you have a completely well-meaning, qualified, empathetic executive—maybe the CEO, perhaps the CFO, someone—screaming (quietly) to themselves, "What the hell is going on?"
Besides leading to the Cutler Corollary (which I'm going to start quoting!) your observations also underline the doubly seductive nature of metrics, which (falsely) reassure you that you're on a path out of the chaos and (falsely) tell you that there is a "reality" to measure in the first place.
But you don't say how to build the trust and psychological safety required to benefit from the Cutler Corollary. I know what I think about this topic (Jeffrey Fredrick and I wrote a whole book about our opinions on it!) but I wonder what you've seen work?
So, what's this trust thing and where can I buy some?
(I was going with "which metric for trust helps me win?" but that seemed over the top.)
How to earn, cultivate, and encourage trust, and know it when you come across it, is a cool bundle of skills. How to do that efficiently and quickly and with others isn't obvious. It can be a highly political skill but there are many pools of knowledge on the subject to draw from. Maybe starting with Nonviolent Communication.
Really love the thoughfullness and nuance of your articles. I'm so over people saying "we need clear metrics" for things that can't be easily simplified when in reality they just want something (anything!) to make them feel like there's a simple explanation if only you find the "right" approach.
The truth (trust) shall set you free! I’d also say the “bring solutions, not problems” mindset many leaders espouse tends to backfire too if you’re truth-seeking.
Love this! I hope the Cutler Variation sticks around. It's really true that the applicability of Goodhart's Law depends so much on the relationships involved, and that's not often mentioned.
Besides leading to the Cutler Corollary (which I'm going to start quoting!) your observations also underline the doubly seductive nature of metrics, which (falsely) reassure you that you're on a path out of the chaos and (falsely) tell you that there is a "reality" to measure in the first place.
But you don't say how to build the trust and psychological safety required to benefit from the Cutler Corollary. I know what I think about this topic (Jeffrey Fredrick and I wrote a whole book about our opinions on it!) but I wonder what you've seen work?
We recently updated our top ten practices from a few years of work in psychological safety, which includes utilising your excellent work Douglas!
I generally don't like being the guy who links to their own work in a comment, but I'm going to do it anyway! https://psychsafety.co.uk/top-10-ways-to-foster-psychological-safety-in-the-workplace/
So, what's this trust thing and where can I buy some?
(I was going with "which metric for trust helps me win?" but that seemed over the top.)
How to earn, cultivate, and encourage trust, and know it when you come across it, is a cool bundle of skills. How to do that efficiently and quickly and with others isn't obvious. It can be a highly political skill but there are many pools of knowledge on the subject to draw from. Maybe starting with Nonviolent Communication.
Yes! Non violent communication is a massively underrated and little known skill.
Really love the thoughfullness and nuance of your articles. I'm so over people saying "we need clear metrics" for things that can't be easily simplified when in reality they just want something (anything!) to make them feel like there's a simple explanation if only you find the "right" approach.
The truth (trust) shall set you free! I’d also say the “bring solutions, not problems” mindset many leaders espouse tends to backfire too if you’re truth-seeking.
Love this! I hope the Cutler Variation sticks around. It's really true that the applicability of Goodhart's Law depends so much on the relationships involved, and that's not often mentioned.
I added it here to spread the word: https://sketchplanations.com/goodharts-law
John, what's on your mind lately?
You are publishing banger after banger, uncovering a common problem that resonates with so many people.
Thank you!
“Where there is fear, you do not get honest figures.”