What are we measuring?
How are we measuring it?
Should we be measuring this?
And, most importantly, are we sure we measuring the right things?
Ignore Goodhart’s Law at your own peril.
Tag / systems thinking
The system usually wins
The system may be wrong, but it often has more power than your individual will.
It doesn’t matter how good the change is you want to make. If the system is set up to prevent it, you’ll fail.
Therefore, you often have to work within the system to get the results you want, even if you don’t like it.
It’s not the tool, it’s the system
Or lack thereof.
You don’t need a better tool. You need a better system. Or you need a clearer outcome.
You think the next new software will solve your work overload. But the reality is that only good workflows that you design for yourself can do that. Software can’t help until you have that down.
You think that the next workout program or supplement will finally help you get a “ripped” body. However, neither of those matters if you don’t have a clear vision for what you actually want, or you can’t execute the boring and simple habits consistently over a long period.
It’s rarely the lack of the right tool that’s the problem anymore. Most of the time, it’s a lack of appropriate systems.
Good for the hive
There’s a Chinese proverb folks seem to have forgotten:
“What is good for the hive is good for the bee.”
Yet a lot of Americans today seem to be focused on the the bees…
“What’s best for me? I don’t care how it affects anyone else.”
“How can I maximize my short-term pleasure?” (Implied in this is, “And increase my long-term pain?”)
“This new policy is good for me, so what else matters?”
If the bees acted that way, the hive would die. And we’d have no honey.
But we’d also have no crops. People would starve. We’d lose access to essential medications—even fibers for clothing.
Maximizing individual short-term interests rarely leads to anything good for most people.
It’s because we live in a world of systems. And systems are greater than the sum of their individual parts. They also have 2nd-, 3rd-, and even 4th-order effects.
Ask yourself, the next time you’re voting, writing a new policy, or drafting a law:
“Is this good for the hive?”
Nathan's Blog 