Occam's Razor

Goodhart, Heisenberg and the CEO

Brilliant post from Eric Briys (founder of cyberlibris) on "Goodhart's law"  which describes how, when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.

Goodhart's law is a sociological analogue of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics.  Measuring a system usually disturbs it.  The more precise the measurement, and the shorter its timescale, the greater the energy of the disturbance and the greater the unpredictability of the outcome ...

... Too much emphasis on a measure as a target kills the measure that may have been a good one in the first place.

It a great post, as it puts some light on the dark side of metrics, and measurements, which VCs and CEOs loves so much, as it gives us the illusion that we are in control, and managing the situation. Joe Kraus last post on goal setting has to be read in the light of Eric comment on Goodhart law:

Goal-setting is everywhere. Everyone knows it's the right thing to do. I've got to focus. I've got to have goals and objectives. I've got to communicate these goals and objectives to those around me. We've got to get on that proverbial "same page" and goals are the way.Problem is, most goals are never met. Goal setting quickly becomes overhead. It takes time with no rewards. People stop believing that goals are anything more than management requirements that have little effect on day to day behavior...

Just to make it clear, I'm not advocating that we should give up on metrics, just that we should also be mindful about the systemic impact of measuring!

Are you working enough ?

Interesting new blog from Terry Gold on Entrepreneurship, if you have ever started a company, you will recognize some of the following (and you will know that yes, you are working enough, and that you should get more sleep...) :

You will ask yourself Am I doing enough? You may find yourself wondering if taking the weekend off is going to be the difference between success and failure.  You'll probably spend some sleepless nights reviewing the day thinking you could have made one more call or done something (anything!) to tip the odds a little more in your favor.

There will be times when you have so much to do, and everything seems critical, that you will feel so overwhelmed that you can't move. - (da) 

Being an entrepreneur is like being on a roller coaster 24 hours a day.  Every entrepreneur I've talked to relates to this.  The highs and lows will come fast and furious in the beginning and no one I've met believes that you ever really get off the roller coaster.  The best you can do is expect the highs and lows, try to keep things in perspective, hang on and enjoy the ride.  I keep a backgammon piece in my pocket these days to remind me that life is a game that should be enjoyed and not taken too seriously.

When you start a company it is consuming and on your mind most of the time.  No one told me that being an entrepreneur would take over most of my waking moments.  For a long time I would wake up in the morning and realize that I'd been thinking about my business in my sleep.  I've found ways to have a life outside of business but it is still on my mind most of the time.  When you wake up in the morning and realize you have been thinking about the business before you even woke up - my friend Tim Miller calls this "Sleepworking."

Sometimes you just can't go any faster.   I believe it takes a certain amount of time to make anything happen, and there is a limit to how fast you can go.  A sense of urgency is what sets entrepreneurs off from bureaucrats but sometimes you really can't go any faster.