Measurements
Measurement is a good thing, but all figures need to be treated
with caution. They may conceal more than they reveal. The
weaknesses to look for are:
■ Non-representative reporting – data selected which do not
cover the key issues, disguise unfavourable results or over-
emphasize favourable performance.
■ Not comparing like with like– the ‘apples and pears syndrome’.
For example, a trend or projection which does not take
account of changing or new factors which have altered or
will alter the situation since the base data were collected.
■ Not starting from a common base. This is a variant on the ‘like
with like’ problem. Trend comparisons should be related to a
common base in terms both of the period and the elements
covered by the information.
■ Misleading averages.Averages do not always tell you the
whole story. They may conceal significant extremes in
performance.
■ Unintentional errors– simple mistakes in calculation, presen-
tation or observation.
■ Measurements out of context.Almost any single measure is
influenced by, or inseparable from, other measures. Figures
in isolation may not mean very much. You have to know
about relationships and underlying influences.
MANAGEMENT BY EXCEPTION
Management by exception is a system which rings alarm bells
only when the manager’s attention is needed. The principle was
invented by the father of scientific management, Frederick
Taylor. In 1911 he wrote in Principles of Scientific Management:
Under the exception principle the manager should receive only
condensed, summarized and invariably comparative reports
covering, however, all of the elements entering into the management
and even these summaries should all be carefully gone over by an
assistant before they reach the manager, and have all the exceptions
to the past averages or standards pointed out, both the especially
good and the especially bad exceptions, thus giving him in a few
minutes a full view of progress which is being made, or the reverse,44 How to be an Even Better Manager