The purpose of metrics
We need to measure things to know if we are improving. And, a dysfunctional culture can mean that measuring things has the wrong effect. Everywhere I look these days, someone is talking about “developer productivity” and how to measure it. The most recent DORA community Metrics Monday Lean Coffee discussions revolved around questions like, “what do we measure, how do we measure, and why?” What are we trying to achieve by using metrics? How do we nurture a culture where measuring helps us improve?
A quote often attributed to Peter Drucker, along the lines of “You can only
manage what you measure”, came up. Apparently he never said that, and it’s not true anyway. Still, we humans love to measure things. Giving something a number makes it feel real, and then we think we can manage and control it. We crave that feedback.
I’m a fan of measurement in the context of using small, frugal experiments (I thank Linda Rising for that idea) to chip away at the biggest problem blocking our team achieving its improvement goals. Our hypothesis is in this format: “We believe that <idea that we want to try> will result in <desired effect>, we’ll know we have succeeded when <something we can measure is at the desired target>. So – we need that measurement. And – it is really hard sometimes to think of a way to measure!
In our DORA Lean Coffee discussion, we talked about the necessity of a learning culture and psychologically safe environment being in place in order for measurement to have a positive effect. Too often, metrics are weaponized (did someone say “developer productivity”?) Another thing that works against us is the short time frames from a business perspective. It’s all about how well the company performed THIS quarter. Change takes time – especially cultural change!
As I’m writing this, thinking of how to advise people to get the right culture in place so that teams can experiment and measure whether they’re achieving goals, I’m reminded of Dr. Nicole Forsgren’s SPACE framework. Here’s a quote from that article: “The most important takeaway from exposing these myths is that productivity cannot be reduced to a single dimension (or metric!)”
We discussed
ways that we, as individuals, can influence positive changes in organizational culture. One suggestion was to be curious about leadership, such as the middle managers. What pressures are they under? Might they be open to experimenting with new ideas? This reminded me of another thing I learned from Linda Rising. We humans don’t change our minds based on facts or logic – however rational we might think we are! She has found that the best way to influence people is to listen to them and ask questions. They might talk themselves into trying something new.
My favorite takeaway from this Metrics Monday conversation: Metrics are for starting a conversation.
Retrospectives are my favorite way to do have these conversations. And I actually prefer to start by identifying the biggest problem, or the most important goal. What’s the biggest thing in our way? What can we try to make that problem smaller, or achieve our top priority goal? Let’s design small experiments that include metrics to track whether they work. Revisit them frequently, check the progress. Tweak the experiment or use what you learned to try something new.
I encourage everyone, whatever your skills or specialties, to join the DORA community and these interesting conversations. We all want to improve how we develop software. The DORA State of DevOps survey seeks to learn what successful teams are doing, so more of us can try those ideas. Also, take the 2024 survey! The scientific data is really useful. The conversations are way more important.
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