Be Careful What You Measure

Be Careful What You Measure

The Wells Fargo Fiasco

Last week, Wells Fargo fired a bunch of their remote employees. It turns out that these employees were "simulating keyboard activity" (with a program/device that automatically typed keys or jiggled their mouse when they weren’t at their computer). Why? Because that’s how these employees were evaluated: not by how many clients they brought in, nor how many relationships they fostered, but by how many hours they were active on their computers.

The Consequences of Misaligned Metrics

So, that’s exactly what these employees gave them. Remember, this is the same bank that told employees back in 2017: "Sign up as many clients to extra banking services as possible." The result? Millions of unknowing customers had credit cards and savings accounts and brokerage accounts created illegally in their names, hundreds of millions of dollars in fines, and destroyed goodwill for Wells Fargo.

The Principles of Management

Bloomberg’s Matt Levine said it well: "Two basic principles of management, and regulation, and life, are: You get what you measure. The thing that you measure will get gamed." Really, that’s just one principle: You get what you measure, but only exactly what you measure. There’s no guarantee that you’ll get the more general good thing that you thought you were approximately measuring.

The Power of Metrics

We download Duolingo to learn to converse with a native speaker in their language. Months later, we’re checking in daily so we don’t get yelled at by the Owl, we are desperate to keep our daily streak active…and we can only say "I found a blue ostrich at the library." We lie in bed, waiving our arm above our head like a madman, because our FitBit says we need 500 more steps to hit 10,000 for the day.

The Dark Side of Social Media

Social media began as a way to connect with friends. These days, social media is big business and the only marketing tool for many creators. Because these companies track "time on app" and "attention"…social media is now a hellscape of outrage. The most attention-grabbing content filters to the top: outrage inducing, factually incorrect, awful content designed to enrage and fear monger.

What Are You Measuring?

The majority of people visit NerdFitness.com to "lose weight." This is the one metric that everybody is used to tracking. Every ad talks about how to lose weight fast. They see the number on the scale and let that number determine how they feel about themselves that day. This is the wrong metric to exclusively focus on: we don’t really want to "lose weight." What we want is to lose fat while keeping the muscle we have (or building muscle).

What to Track, What NOT to Track

Remember, that which gets measured gets improved, so let’s be smart about what we’re tracking. We can ask, "What do I REALLY want to happen? Is this the right metric for that goal?" Trying to "eat better"? Track your protein intake and number of fruits/veggies eaten daily. If those are the first two things on your plate for each meal, your weight will start to shift without your focus on it.

Conclusion

When it comes to personal development or health improvement, it helps to ask: "What am I optimizing for, and does that actually help me get the result I really want?" We can then decide if we’re even playing with the right scorecard and keeping our focus on the right metric.

FAQs

Q: What’s a metric you USED to prioritize, but no longer track? And what’s the important metric that you’re choosing to prioritize these days?

A: Hit reply on this and let me know!

Q: Why did Wells Fargo fire their remote employees?

A: Because they were simulating keyboard activity to meet their metrics for employee evaluation.

Q: What’s the difference between "losing weight" and "losing fat"?

A: Losing weight doesn’t necessarily mean you’re losing fat or building muscle. Losing fat while keeping the muscle you have (or building muscle) is a more effective and sustainable approach.

Q: Why is social media a hellscape of outrage?

A: Because social media companies track "time on app" and "attention", and the most attention-grabbing content filters to the top, regardless of its accuracy or value.