Feedback, Measurement & Learning
Positioning
Some Failure Patterns addressed in this site arise not from measurement or improvement activities themselves, but from structures in which feedback does not connect to decisions.
Feedback and Measurement are not means for managing processes. They are positioned as learning circuits for capturing the impact that decisions have had on the environment, and reflecting this in subsequent decisions.
Scope
This Appendix does not address specific indicator design or measurement methodologies.
KPIs, OKRs, and dashboard design are referenced only as one means of expression for connecting decisions and outcomes.
Details of improvement frameworks or process operations are not addressed in this site.
Mapping
The following organizes the correspondence between elements in this site and concepts related to feedback, measurement, and learning.
| Element in Main Text | Position in Feedback / Learning Lineage |
|---|---|
| Metric-less Improvement | State where improvement without measurement is separate from decisions |
| Broken Learning Loop | State where feedback is not translated into learning |
| Countermeasures | Intervention to reconnect decisions and outcomes |
| Resulting Context | State where decisions, actions, and outcomes circulate |
Rationale
The assumption common to LEAN and Cybernetics is that by observing the outcomes of actions and reflecting them in subsequent decisions, the system becomes adjusted.
What becomes problematic in Failure Patterns is not that measurement does not exist, but that a structure is established in which measurement outcomes do not update decisions.
Metric-less Improvement and Broken Learning Loop are observed as states where learning does not occur, even when improvement activities and reflections exist.
References
- W. Edwards Deming, Out of the Crisis, 1982.
- Stafford Beer, Cybernetics and Management, 1959.
- Stafford Beer, The Heart of Enterprise, 1979.
- Eric Ries, The Lean Startup, 2011.