"We're obsessed with metrics. We measure everything - time, profit, growth, pleasure, carbon scores, even what might happen in the future. Metrics help us judge what's good or safe, but these can start to cloud what really matters. In the 2010s, Boeing's rush to compete with Airbus led it to bolt new software (MCAS) onto an older airframe rather than design a safer model. The flight system malfunctioned, causing two fatal crashes that showed how profit and speed can eclipse safety."
"In 2015, Theranos claimed it could diagnose diseases from a single drop of blood. Despite attracting immense investment, its core technology failed. Founder Elizabeth Holmes was convicted of fraud, leaving investors with a story built on false claims. And WeWork, once hailed as a "tech company," soared to a $47 billion valuation before its failed IPO exposed massive losses. The illusion of hypergrowth collapsed, revealing a real-estate business built on inflated ambition."
Metrics can mirror reality or distort it. Obsession with quantification leads organizations to prioritize measurable indicators over intrinsic safety, truth, or long-term value. Boeing prioritized speed and profit, retrofitting MCAS onto an older airframe, producing fatal crashes. Theranos attracted investment while its diagnostic technology failed, resulting in fraud convictions and investor losses. WeWork presented hypergrowth and tech-branding to justify a $47 billion valuation before IPO failure exposed underlying real-estate losses. These examples show that chasing measurable signals can produce dangerous design choices, deceptive claims, and inflated valuations that obscure true product and organizational health.
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