Measurable or Meaningful

We look at what is measurable rather than what is meaningful (Warren Buffet)

You may already be aware that I work in the world of research in my day job. It’s a place obsessed with measurement. If something looks really interesting and of value, the next step is to look for a measure. Is there some research we can do here, or can be do an evaluation to look at what is working and how it is working. I’ve said it before in this blog, the positivist view of the world is not always helpful. Sometimes, we need to step back and figure out what is meaningful, and that may well not be measurable.

Of the three things I do – enabling research, coaching and writing – coaching is one area where there is an ongoing obsession with measurement, evaluation and demonstration of return on investment. It all sounds wonderful in theory. In practise, coaching brings the process of the conversation, of the shared space and problem solving, the shifting of perspective and the “light-bulb” moments which occur from time to time. In this space, it can often be really difficult to bring measurement. Sure, it’s possible to conduct a 360 degree feedback process before and after, which gives some degree of feedback about change. But the really important changes that coaching can bring are not those that are visible and demonstrated in the interactions with others. It’s the inner changes, the shift that can have long-lasting implications.

This gets to the issue of inner and outer changes. Behaviours can be measured, inner states are much more difficult to determine – we enter into totally subjective terrain.

But that doesn’t make the inner changes any less meaningful. I’ve seen these changes happening in front of me as a coach, and I have experienced themselves with the different coaches who I have worked with too.

In this short post I have chosen to focus on coaching, but the issue raised by Warren Buffet’s quote is relevant to so many aspects of our life. Why do we spend so much time chasing the measurement, rather than marvelling at the meaningful?