When Measurement Goes Wrong: Dr. Robert Austin Explains Performance Dysfunction

Dr. Robert Austin, Professor of Information Systems at Ivey Business School and affiliated faculty member at Harvard Medical School, explores critical insights from his seminal work, Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations, a foundational text that examines how performance measurement influences organizational behavior and reveals the often-overlooked risks of measurement dysfunction. In this episode, Dr. Robert Austin, Professor of Information Systems at Ivey Business School and affiliated faculty member at Harvard Medical School, unpacks how well-intended performance metrics can quietly distort behavior and damage organizations. Drawing on classic work by Ridgway, Blau, and Kerr, he illustrates measurement dysfunction through vivid cases, from police departments gaming clearance rates to GE’s earnings manipulation and costly failure in large defense projects. Dr. Austin explains the tension between using metrics for information versus motivation, framed through Goodhart’s Law, and shows how individual attribution and high-stakes incentives corrupt data quality. He traces the evolution of software development metrics and argues that creative and R&D-style work cannot be managed like factory output. The conversation closes with design principles for healthier measurement systems, the superiority of trust-based over metrics-obsessed management, and why, even in the digital age, more data can simply mean more sophisticated folly unless culture and cooperation are put at the center. This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. For more information, please visit www.globalmanagementconsultancy.com. Disclaimer: A. The background music used in this video is the property of its respective developer and is protected by Copyright. Although it is a free version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy and Deepak Bhatt do not hold the rights to this music. B. Dr. Robert Austin shared insightful perspectives from his acclaimed book, “Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations,” during his conversation on the Business Talk podcast. The uploaded video contains copyrighted material; therefore, any modifications to graphics, music, or the presence of the author or host are strictly prohibited.