counting doesn’t mean it counts
=====
“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”
Albert Einstein
—————
Well. Who would have thought the guy who figured out e=mcsquared would actually say something so simple even someone who doesn’t have a physics PhD can understand it.
I am gonna dumb this down even more.
People in business who manage by milestones and aren’t satisfied unless they have “milestones” to measure and lean in on “how do we make people accountable” drive me crazy.
Why?
Because they are always seeking something to count.
And what is worse? That is where they stop.
They stop there because if they can’t count it, it doesn’t count.
Drives.
Me.
Fucking.
Nuts.
Look. Setting clear objectives and maybe some goals is always useful. But not to inspire work. It should be done to guide workers toward something. That said. The entire thought of “because you cannot count something that it doesn’t count” is … well … absurd.
It is absurd because the best people I have ever worked with, or even just glanced off of, had an intangible that made everyone around them be better. Yeah. Often they ‘hit’ numbers but they were also the ones most likely to hit numbers you never even imagined if you didn’t give them a frickin’ number to ‘hit.’ And maybe that is my point. The space between hitting a designated number and a realized number is uncountable upfront. Yeah. I don’t know how you count that. I can’t even count the intangibles that go into creating a predictive uncountable number.
And trying to figure out how to make an intangible tangible just so you can figure out a way to measure or count it seems to be an incredible waste of time and effort. Let me explain just so you don’t think I am being silly. In most businesses if you leave people alone and let them create business and they generate some number bigger than what was expected <or forecasted> some numbnut will come along and analyze every aspect of what happened and who did what so that they can ‘count it’ into their next forecast. Its absurd.
(but that is something you can count on)
Numbers, in and of themselves, are not accountable. They are simply a reflection of some “cause” <and ’cause’ can be accountable>. More likely numbers are a refection of that wacky thing called “people working together.”
Numbers, in and of themselves, are less facts and more reflections of a mosaic from which you need to build facts. Even more importantly numbers are more a reflection of the intangible aspect of
What you can also count on is Albert was smarter than he looked.
000 thoughts per day, 2 but really 2.2, 3 Lost Wonders of the Business World, a business truth, a derivative of the best, a flawed person with talent, a full life, a good idea is a good idea, a human defect or a flaw, a person with contradictions, a scared organization, a severe shortcoming, a swinging organization, ability to discuss things as a whole, absolutely miserable to be near someone, accepting responsibility of ideas, accountable decision making, action and consequences, actions today make who i am tomorrow, admiration, adult responsibility, advertising, advice is wisdom, advice leading to choices, advises justly, advocate for youth, affecting organization thru actions, affecting people's conflict behavior, agency, aiming high, aligning generational attitude and technology and consumer trends, aligning perceptions and behavior creates satisfaction, alignment, alignment has dimensions, all the bright ideas in the world, always bear in mind, always seeking something to count, an intangible that made everyone around them be better, analysis paralysis, analysis paralysis death grip, analyzing actual behavior, and not everything that counts can be counted, and theories, and they'll confess to anything, any more than you read words when reading books, anything that can go wrong will, apacity of the human mind for swallowing nonsense, appreciation, architects of fate, art of staying, articulation skills, assess the business vibe, assists readily, astonish people, at some point you are accountable, attacking doubt, attaining levles of good, attempt to manage the signals, attitudes, attitudes and behavior, autonomous management, autonomy, available to show to explain your decision, averting chaos, avoid the gray, avoiding the business pendulum, balancing dependence and independence, battle is occurring between facts, be better than us, be still in midst of activity, be who you are, beating the system, behavior, behavior is determined by the subconscious mind, behavior management business, being a partner in business, being able to articulate experience, being accountable, being an enlightened thinker, being decent is not your best, being distinct, being enlightened, being fearless in a room of fear is frustrating, being good is relative, being honest to yourself, being perfect is impossible, being scared as a leader, being soft in business, believe, best advice, best advice people, best people I have ever worked with, big data does is amplify the situation, big ideas, big ideas are crap, big mistake big succcesses, big mistakes, black or white, blurry responsibility, bogged down in statistics and numbers, bookending alignment, both theory and numbers, breaking life decisions down, breeds an aspect of complacency, builders versus renovators, building a culture, building character, business, business is messy, business people suck at making decisions, business reality is never a simplification of anything, Business Thoughts, business world is in a very odd place, but numbers aren’t just numbers, can someone really give 110%, cannot be happy and scared, capacity of the human mind, centralized focus with decentralized implementation, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change is easier if you simplify, change occurs, change takes remarkable effort, changed behavior, changing objectives to make change, chaos, chaos control methods, chaos creates opportunities, character, choice between alternatives, choice by numbers, choice cannot be made with statistics alone, choices, choices leading to full life, choices we make or do not make, choosing to be true, choosing to play the game your own way, clear responsibility, cognitive thinking, cold harsh truth becomes a non truth, collaboration, collaboration can kill discovery, collector of moments, coming to grips with inadequacies, committed to showing up everyday, communication, company of adventurers, complex character, complex or complicated, complex simplified, concept of chaos, condoning mediocrity, conflict and people, connection to the silent life of things, consensus, consensus kills ideas, consistency, consistency is underrated, consistency of character, consistency of character is underrated, consistency of values, consumer attitudes, consumer buying system, contemporary statistical gwonk, contradictions of life, contribute to society, controlled autonomy, controlled chaos, conventional wisdom about how humans behave may need rethinking, conversations, core competency, counting does not mean it counts, counting doesn't mean it counts, counting something doesn’t mean it counts, courage and faith, courage doesn't always roar, courage is about resiliency, cowardly decision making, crafting a generation of business people, creating desired behavior, creating positive touchpoints, creating the next generation of thinkers, creating the next generation of thinkers using the web, creation means destroying something, creativity, creativity process, crowds providing unsolicited feedback, cruelty and retribution, crushed by doubt, curiosity is the enemy of ignorance, cynicism, daniel pink, days of thunder and chaos, dealing with adversity, dealing with everyday life, dealing with extenuating experiences, death is a forever nap, deceiving others, deceiving yourself, decentralizing communications tasks, decide what your best is, decision making, decision making under uncertainty, decision responsibility, decision utility, decision-making is a cognitive process, defining happiness in moments, depth of character to face everyday life, depths of despair, designing perfect systems, desire everything at the same time, desired, destroying the personal baggage you carry, developing cross cultural skills, developing minds of next generation of thinkers, developing social and emotional competencies, different world with different rules, differentiation, difficult lessons, difficult to discern good guys from bad guys, difficult to manage expectations, directional signs toward truth, disappointment created by expectations, disappointment in yourself, discerning the difference between attitude and behavior, discerning the important from the unimportant, discipline but freedom, disciplined chaos, discovery is messy, distinguishing right versus wrong in your own head, diversity of measures, do not go gentle, do not go quietly, do what is right, do whatever you need to do, do your best, doing a decent job day to day, doing right even though it may be wrong, doing the right thing, doing the right thing is hard, doing what is right, don't worry about people stealing an idea, doubt, Doubt and truth intersect, doubt resides between certainty and uncertainty, doubt something, doubt something once unquestionable, Doubters hesitate to change, doubts of words, dreaming is not just for kids, drive me crazy, driven mostly by our subconscious, drucker new realities, dynamic beyond our own purposes, dysfunctional managers, easier to grab on to statistics to make a decision, easier to quit, economic forecasts, educating using the net, education to enlighten, effective communication, embellishment, embodies contradictions, embracing failure, emotional, employees, employees running scared is bad, encouraging, encouraging curiosity, encouraging understanding of choices, energy, enlightened business, enlightened business choices, enlightened business thinking, enlightened business truth, enlightened business wisdom, enlightened conflict, enlightened decision making, enlightened decisions, enlightened ignorance, enlightened management, enlightened managers, enlightened music, enlightened numbers, enlightened people, enlightened quote, enlightened thinking, evaluating, even if you take the risk, events are meant to be commanded not feared, every minute is another chance, every moment counts, every one is an architect of life, every one plays a role in fate, everything is twisted by corporate greed, executives to use judgment, Experienced based instincts, external people get confused, extraordinary cruel logic, facing overwhelming responsibilities, facts and truth, failure is a reflection of a flaw, fairness, faith in oneself, falling short of best, fantasy heading of management theory, fear, fear of being wrong, fear of choices, fear of less than perfect, fearlessness, few people execute good ideas, few words, fight the hardest battle to be yourself, figure out how to make an intangible tangible, finagle, finagle's law, finding both comfort and newness, finding the right words to say, finding what is possible from impossible, finding your way is tough, flame inside, focus on what is important, follow the truth, fragmentation, free your mind, freedom of, freedom of choice, friends leading following and side by side, fun, functional, functional superiority, fundamental challenge number users, gain some new identity aspects, generalist, generating ideas, generations changing behavior, geting thru chaos unscathed, getting a grip on life, getting a new start means destroying some old things, getting kicked in the gut by questioning, give lip service to business instincts, give statistical-using people the benefit of the doubt, global collaboration and learning, gobs of poor management skills, going with your gut, good advice is priceless, good decision making, good ideas, good people, got past 2 plus 2 equals 4 in school, great friends who give advice, great listeners, great organizations, greatest danger is aiming too low, greatest mistake a parent can make, grounded in what is important, grouped together in manageable numbers, groups, growing good managers, growing up is tough, guilt and obligation, guilty of not my problem, habit of disregarding distractions, hallways of business management, happiness, hard choices, hard decisions, have mastered numbers, having a personal defect, heightening value in life choices, hiding behind statistics, hope, hope in learning, how numbers cringe at how their stories are told, How numbers have lost their power, how systems that shouldn’t work do work, I am not sure what the right thing to do is, I did the best given what I had, I fail, i like numbers, I think opinions, i want you to be better, i want you to be better than i was, ideas, ideas come with a burden, ideas in any shape and size are good, ideas make an impact, Ideas pull the trigger, identifying who you are, ignorance, ignorance is the enemy, illogical behavior for a logical person, illogical decision making, illogical mistakes people tend to make, imagining a better education system, impacting kid's education, imperfection implies opinion, impersonal, imply such a non emotional, importance because in today’s world, in a world of consensus and collaboration, in chaos we found safety, In decision making numbers are only relevant, in maturity we tend to communicate better, in the face of woefully inadequate data, inability to manage expectations, inaction, incentives, including you & I, incompetence, incompetent managers, increasing reluctance on the part of executives, increasing reluctance on the part of marketing executives, increasing reluctance on the part of marketing executives to use judgment, increasingly popular words, incredibly dry mind numbing analysis of statistical decision theory, individuals, inefficient crevasses in an organization, inefficient processes, influencers are still influencers, influences your behavior, inform a decision, informing a decision, innate tendency or response to act in ways, inserting myself into tangled moments, inside an enterprise are only costs, inside people there is a lot of stuff, instinct, instinct implies innate disposition, Instinct is a natural aptitude, Instinct is one of those things people hate, instinct loads the gun, instinctive, instinctively complicates life, instinctual, instinctual behavior, intangibles, intellectual causes & situations, intentions, interesting people have contradictions, investing energy when appropriate, is anything back or white anymore, is your best just mediocre, isolating variables using statistics, It is more an inborn intangible, it is okay to fail, it isn't process it is the work, judgement, judging failure needs context, judgment is not easy, Judgment isn’t easy, juggling versus balancing, just some fucking numbers to me, just this once, kindness in words creates confidence, knowing what is right is not enough, knowledge, Knowledge and experience, Knowledge and experience can only take you so far, kodak, lack of alignment, lack of responsibility, lack of self confidence, lazy decision making, lazy way to outline expectations, leaders and character, leaders are still and active, leaders have strength of character, leadership, leadership split, learning, learning begets more enlightened ignorance, learning which numbers are unimportant, less than perfect, lessons, letting go is difficult, letting go is not simple, lies, life, life formulas, life gives you a bazillion second chances, life is a string of minutes, life is a struggle, life is a winding road, life is about making choices, life is complex, life is not a mission, life is not a straight line, life is not as simple as it seems, life is often not lived best gently, life is tough, life lessons, life not defined by meeting objectives, life thoughts, Life truths, life's white lies, listening, listening to choices, literally an elephant in the room, little failures versus big failures, live life to the fullest, living life backwards but still question, logic & illogical, logical decision making, logical to one may be illogical to another, logical versus illogical, logical versus the illogical, lying to yourself, maintain autonomy, maintaining relevance globally, make decisions, make weaknesses irrelevant, making changes personally, making choices, making the hard choice, making your own decisions, management, management be accountable, management by exception, management is about human beings, management literature, managing business relationships, managing people to be successful in life and business, managing perceptions, managing transitional moments, manipulate and articulate numbers, marbles on a table, marketing, maslow and decisions, match up their own experiences, matched intellectual friends, maximize the benefit of the organization, maybe it is better to admit we failed at something, maybe life is not that complicated, meaningful ideas, measurement of failure, measuring life, meeting the challenges of concentration, message is worth listening to, messaging, Millions of books sold, moments are like a balance sheet, moments of passion, moral fiber, more honest online, Most management theory is useless drivel, most of the good business shit is learned on the job, most things in life are not black or white, motivated by a desire to achieve, motivation, multiple agendas, need to be teaching young business people, never a substitute for judgement, never are a substitute for judgement, next generation of thinkers, no ideas, no one says you failed any more, no one wants to trust chaos, no substitute for judgment, no such thing as global idea, nobody's life is perfect, not a quantity of words person, not all big ideas are good ideas, not defending business books, not everyone can give good advice, Not everything that can be counted counts, not just counting what counts, not just follow in our footsteps, not meeting an objective is not failure, not on the basis of anecdote, nother installment in the ongoing saga of reason and passion, nothing is original, Numbers are everywhere, numbers are facts, numbers are facts crap, numbers are facts nonsense, numbers are factual indicators, numbers are losing their mojo, numbers are not accountable, numbers are sly, numbers based knowledge, numbers can play a role, numbers can sway an I think based opinion, numbers have a role, Numbers have become the voice of the arrogant and elite, Numbers in business, Numbers is a full time job, numbers represent, numbers represent a simplification, numbers represent a simplification of reality, numbers runs the reality of business, Numbers should be the starkest truth society can have, numbers should provide stable reference points, numbers show possibilities, numbers will confess anything, numbers will still be misused, obligation to do, obligation to do the right thing, oesn't have to put you in an analysis paralysis death grip, of the individual and the group, offering the number of the day, old farts talking about social media, Omar, Omar is like Burke, once doubt enters it takes on huge proportions, Once we got past 2 plus 2 equals 4, one foot in history one foot in future, ongoing search for the right words, only few find the way, ordinary life with extraordinary responsibilities, ordinary people don't think they are remarkable, organization not aligned, organizational, organizational behavior, organizational conformity, organizational marbles, organizations, organizations are living orgamisms, organizing chaos, original ideas, original ideas are typically nuances of existing, outcome is a choice between alternatives, overwhelming amount of data, partner, partnership, pendulum, pendulum of trust and doubt, people are represented day in and day out by numbers, people confuse process and disciplined thinking, People in business who aren’t satisfied unless, people who give best advice, people who give best advice have been through the most, people with more wisdom. people who have experienced more, Perfect numbers like, Perfect numbers like perfect men are very rare, perfection is crap, perfection is the thief, performance, person requires a special character, personal creative destruction, personal mental imprints based on experience, personal thoughts, perspective can help with the complex, peter gabriel wisdom, power of words, powerful words, predictions, prioritizing actions, prioritizing what is right or wrong, process is a means to an end, product or service, productivity, project global generation, protecting children, protecting children from evil, protecting from predators, providing perspective, purposeful fragmentation, pursuing the way, put failing in perpsective, quality versus quantity online, questioning the unquestionable, quite handy in building the foundation to learning how to successfully, quotations, quotes, randomness of life, reach for the stars, reaching a business crisis level, reality-based tactic model, realized that the statistics you leaned on, really good ideas are rare, reason for being, reason to believe, redefining children's education with a global initiative, reflections of a mosaic from which you need to build facts, relationships, relatively important numbers, represent a simplification of reality, reptilian brain, research, resilience, resiliency, resiliency and character, respect, respect for individual choice, responsibility, responsibility to children, responsible for survival instincts, restless consistency, results, results achieved, results is management criteria, right but wrong, right is right, right words, role of internet, running a business, running a busniness, safe, save yourself from reading about 99 percent of all the management literature, say it is happening when it isn't, say thanks and get a shrug, say that something is happening when it is, saying it is fine when it is not, saying the right words, scared, Scientific research, see within the circumstances, see your own reality, seek out events without fear, seek truth, seeking the way of truth, self actualization, self doubt, self esteem through problem solving, self truth, self worth, sentiment or prejudice, shades of gray, sharing experiences, sharp insights are best, shirking responsibility, shitload of extremely qualified think tanks and experts, short term concentration capabilities, shortcomings leading to consequences, should always bear in mind, simple, simplicity in life, simplicity seems too chaotic, simplification of reality, simplifying to make choices easier, simply illogical behavior cancelling out illogical behavior, six impossible things before breakfast, slippery slope, slippery slope of despair, slippery slope of I am not fine, slippery surface of irrelevant brilliance, small gestures in trivial looking moments, smallest actions contribute, social media is not antisocial, social policy, soft choices, Some everyday schmuck commenting on an online article, some people do not talk about themselves, someone who has crappy instincts, something more important than fear, something to think about, sometimes produce completely irrational results, sometimes systems work that should not work, sometimes the illogical occurs, sorting out the truth, soyoufailed.com, speak after listening, speaking, specialist, spiral of loneliness and despair, stand for something within yourself, standing on the uncertainty pedestal, standing up every time we fall down, statistical decision theory, statistics, Statistics are no substitute for judgment, statistics cannot make the decision for you, statistics getting in the way of a good decision, statistics is defined as a discipline, stay or go, stimulus reponse, stop and think, stop looking at numbers as numbers, straight lines, straight lines are rare in life, strategy, strength against adversity, strength of character, strength of character to make change, stressful decisions, strip away the undoable and identify the doable, stripped of emotion, strips numbers of emotion, struggle between energy and indolence, struggle between vitality and decay, Stuff I Like, stumble upon doing it right, stunning grace in the face of overwhelming life, subconscious influences behavior, subconscious is really a place of super-fast data processing, successfully run and manage a business, suck at assuming personal responsibility for decisions, suggestion to numbers experts, supposed to offer certainty not uncertainty, swallowing nonsense, systems remain stagnant, tactics, take revenge on doubters, talking, tangled ball of string, tangled up people, that i will be tomorrow, the answers are within you, the best advice is priceless, the most powerful weapon in life is not a mission, the myth of original, the myth of the proprietary process, the numbers told me what to do, the odd moment of beauty where time is not the same, the organizational crack, the power of friends, the subconscious, the world is always changing, their heads and hearts, theoretical secret to success, theories, Theories tend to be the weapon of choice, theories to make decisions, Theory discusses long term strategy, theory du jour, theory wafts thru the hallways of business management, There are no facts anymore, there is no formula for good choices, thinking, thinking impossible things, thinking is good, thinking too much, this i am today, thoughts, thousands of meetings discussing, thrive on dreams and possibilities, to be sure of you, to make decisions, to slay a dragon you need to believe in dragons, too young at 48, torture numbers, Torture numbers and they'll confess to anything, torturing numbers, tough being a teen, training is woefully lacking, training means results, transactional branding, transformational people, trapped by fear, trivial moments, trivial moments in bigger life, trust, trust and doubt embodies people, Trust can be objective and subjective, Trust one side too much and it dulls, truth, truth about numbers, truth and expectations, truth goggles, truth is rarely simple, truth is what really happened, truth or lies, truth or nothing, truth to oneself, trying to preserve will lead to stagnation, uncertainty is a bitch, uncertainty takes on geometric proportions, unclear leader, understanding what you do as an organization, unfocused leaders, unintended results, unquestionable, unrealistic expectations, unshakeable, untangling people, until we meet again, use statistics to make the decision, use your imagination, using data out of fear, using numbers, Using numbers to make decisions, vibrantly alive in repose, vision, voices of a generation, walk in our footsteps, want to share ownership of an idea, wasted energy worrying, we all fail, weave your way through numbers they can tell, Weighing the importance of one number versus another, what counts, What counts is what the numbers say, what do you do when you get what you want, what I know opinions, what is management, what is right and what is wrong, what is the alternative, what is the place of words, what looks like chaos, what we are seeking explanations, what we have is not what we need, what we need is impossible to get, what we need to get us through, what we want is not what we need, whatever it takes, when statistics get in the way of a good decision, where it gets even trickier, within that shadow resided their true meaning, woefully inadequate data, words, words reflecting experiences, words that become deeds, words worse than nothing unless they do something, work is often up to people, work nevertheless, world of consensus and collaboration, worry about implementing a great idea versus protecting it, you are not a failure because you fail, you cannot dwell on every moment that slipped by, you know what feels wrong, you will in fact no longer be reading numbers, you will then see a slew of non statisticians scramble
Written by Bruce
Leave a Comment