A working set of rules for anyone who runs an organisation by numbers. It starts from Goodhart's observation that a measure under pressure stops telling the truth, and turns it into decisions you can actually make.
3 chapters · 13 rules
Charles Goodhart's remark about measures and targets has been restated many times, but it is usually quoted and rarely operationalised. This book turns the observation into thirteen rules covering how to choose a measure, how to build one that survives being watched, and how to attach consequences to it without destroying it. The rules come from ordinary practice in management, operations, and measurement design rather than from any formal standard, and they are offered as considered craft, not proof. Drafted with Rulebound AI from the brief: “Create a rule book for Goodhart's Law”, then edited by the author.
For managers, analysts, and anyone who sets a target that other people will be judged against.
Initial publication.
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