Hi Joel, (01)
> > That is most definitely false.
>
> Wow! Whenever I've asked somebody that said they've improved
> something, they've always given me some measure. If they are about to
> work on a problem, I've always asked them "how do you know when you've
> made any progress?" (02)
You may be interested in Kuhn's paper - Kuhn T. S. 1961. The function of
measurement in modern physical science. Isis 52(168), 161-193.
(http://www.jstor.org/pss/228678 ).
He argues that if you look at the history of science, it is only when a
topic matures that one is able to measure reliably.
And that Kelvin's "I often say that when you can measure what you are
speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but
when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your
knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of
knowledge, but you have scarcely in your thoughts advanced to the state of
Science, whatever the matter may be." is historically inaccurate. (As
inaccurate as his X-Ray and completeness of physics comments.) (03)
>From a business perspective, one can use Roger's Innovation categories
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations ) to say innovators
and early adopters have the vision to see the benefits without detailed
measures, whereas the measures need to be developed to persuade the majority
and laggards to adopt. (04)
So John has a very good point, one backed up by the history of science. (05)
I found Kuhn's paper useful in helping me to understand the situation. The
lesson I took away is that we are at the stage of developing new measurement
techniques rather than using existing measurement techniques to make a case. (06)
Regards,
Chris (07)
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