The art of service v the science of measurement :
By: WALDERSEE, Robert
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ArticlePublisher: Oxford : Blackwell Publishers Limited, September 1999Australian Journal of Public Administration 58, 3, p. 38-42Abstract: Mantras such as 'If you can't measure it you can't manage it' have become standards of management practice. At no point are the logic or assumptions that link measurement to performance questioned. Formal measurement has its place in the broader art of service leadership. But so do the other aspects of assessment, including personal experience of the service, observation, frontline input, customer meetings and a raft of informal monitoring activities. When conducted properly, these other ways of knowing are just as reliable, valid and manageable as any quantitative system. More quantification is not necessarily better. Service leaders must stand back and understand when to use the science of measurement and when to develop the art of management
Mantras such as 'If you can't measure it you can't manage it' have become standards of management practice. At no point are the logic or assumptions that link measurement to performance questioned. Formal measurement has its place in the broader art of service leadership. But so do the other aspects of assessment, including personal experience of the service, observation, frontline input, customer meetings and a raft of informal monitoring activities. When conducted properly, these other ways of knowing are just as reliable, valid and manageable as any quantitative system. More quantification is not necessarily better. Service leaders must stand back and understand when to use the science of measurement and when to develop the art of management
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