So often we hear how important it is to measure, to have the right metrics, to evaluate. When we set targets and measure progress we somehow get a sense of accomplishment. We feel we are competing with others, competing with ourselves and get somehow rewarded or recognized for meeting or exceeding the targets. Social networks give us measures- the most connections, the best connections, the most anwsers to questions, the most recommendations. Numbers seem to give us comfort and if we give it a number then it must be important. We try to measure what matters at work, in education, and in our lives.
When we bake it is important to measure. We need to measure accurately or the bread will not rise, or the cake will be the wrong consistency and it wont cook properly.
I prefer cooking to baking. When cooking we have more choice. We can follow a recipe and use the measures, and when we repeat it will be the same. We can also step completely outside of measures, throwing caution to the wind and experiment, decidedly not measuing. A little of this, some of that, mix and match recipes, throw in extra things tasting along the way, stirring up some weird concoction that we could probably not recreate so easily. We take risks, we innovate when we cook without measurement. Some dishes fail miserably. Some are delightful. Some are absolutely delicious. What they are not is predictable.
Sometimes I wonder what the world would be like without so much measurement. Imagine a child in school, learning what they were passionate about- deeply engrossed and engaged in exploring. Imagine at work where you were encouraged to innovate, rewarded for experimenting, where you celebrated when new great work was done- not just when you met a carefully measured objective. Life might be a little different were we not to compare our material wealth with each other, within organizaitons, communities or nations. Idealistic? Of course. However next time you are setting up a measure ask yourself- do I really need a measure? What possibility might emerge without a measure? Maybe give yourself just a little space of time before you lock in a measure- the outcome might just surprise you.
