This blog is based on the book misLeading Indicators: How to Reliably Measure Your Business by Philip Green and George Gabor. The book was published in 2012 by Praeger. See the website at http://www.misleadingindicators.com.

There is a common saying that “if you can’t measure it you can’t manage it.” Many people mistakenly think the reverse is true, that if they can measure it, or something they call “it,” they can manage it. What they ignore is an old lesson from some of the greatest scientists—just because you can obtain numbers from measuring does not mean the thing you think you are measuring actually exists. What then are you managing? Businesses measure and create all sorts of indicators without asking whether they indicate what they think they indicate. Often they do not.

misLeading Indicators clearly shows business managers how to measure accurately and precisely so that their businesses can thrive. It shows how to find and fix misleading indicators caused by faulty measurements that can hurt their businesses and investments. The book shows managers how to make that critical distinction. It reveals the flaws in measurements used by banks, governments, productivity and management consultants, stock brokers, manufacturers, accountants, quality control and safety experts, doctors, marketers, economists and climate scientists, and many others.