Quotes from Douglas W. Hubbard

Modeling the world mathematically is as uniquely a human trait as language or art, but you would rarely find anyone complaining of being "reduced to a poem" or "reduced to a painting.

we need to treat measurement as observations that quantitatively reduce uncertainty.

Definition of Measurement Measurement: A quantitatively expressed reduction of uncertainty based on one or more observations.

A nominal scale has no implied order or magnitude—like gender or location or whether a system has a given feature.

For all practical decision-making purposes, we need to treat measurement as observations that quantitatively reduce uncertainty.

When we conduct a penetration test on a system, we are not changing the state of the application with this inspection; rather, we are changing our uncertainty about the state of the application.

Once managers figure out what they mean and why it matters, the issue in question starts to look a lot more measurable.

Anything you need to quantify can be measured in some way that is superior to not measuring it at all. —Gilb's Law

The commonplace notion that presumes measurements are exact quantities ignores the usefulness of simply reducing uncertainty, especially if eliminating uncertainty is not feasible (as is usually the case).

Success is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard for twenty-two minutes to make sense of something that most people would give up on after thirty seconds. —Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success

If we incorrectly think that measurement means meeting some nearly unachievable standard of certainty, then few things will be measurable even in the physical sciences.

It seems that to have a truly profound revelation, you almost always have to look at something other than what you have been looking at in the past. Being able to compute the value of information has caused organizations to look at completely different things—and doing so has frequently resulted in a surprise that changed the direction of a major decision.

The first 100 samples reduce uncertainty much more than the second 100. In fact, even the first 10 samples tell you a lot more than the next 10. The initial state of uncertainty tells you a lot about how to measure it.

we know that decision makers will experience an increase in confidence in their decisions even when the analysis or information-gathering methods are found to be ineffectual. This is part of what Dawes called the "illusion of learning.

Anything currently estimated using expensive survey methods can be researched in different ways by any Internet-literate college student.

What they really mean is that "numbers can be used to confuse people, especially the gullible ones lacking basic skills with numbers." With this, I completely agree,

For all practical decision-making purposes, we need to treat measurement as observations that quantitatively reduce uncertainty. A mere reduction, not necessarily elimination, of uncertainty will suffice for a measurement.

measure what matters, make better decisions.

the traditional form of Hoshin Kanri, there is a grouping of four perspectives. It is no surprise that the balanced scorecard perspectives are mirror images (see Exhibit 1.8). As with the balanced scorecard, Hoshin Kanri can be improved with the introduction of employee satisfaction and environment and community. EXHIBIT 1.8 Similarities between Hoshin Kanri and Balanced Scorecard Perspectives

One of our measurement mentors, Enrico Fermi, was an early user of what was later called a "Monte Carlo simulation.

A problem well stated is a problem half solved. —Charles Kettering (1876–1958), American inventor, holder of 300 patents, including electrical ignition for automobiles There is no greater impediment to the advancement of knowledge than the ambiguity of words. —Thomas Reid (1710–1769), Scottish philosopher

1. Key result indicators (KRIs) tell you how you have done in a perspective or critical success factor. 2. Result indicators (RIs) tell you what you have done. 3. Performance indicators (PIs) tell you what to do. 4. KPIs tell you what to do to increase performance dramatically. EXHIBIT 1.1 Four Types of Performance Measures

Consider these statistics. It used to cost Farm Journal, a client of Key Survey, an average of $4 to $5 per respondent for a 40- to 50-question survey of farmers. Now, using Key Survey, it costs Farm Journal 25 cents per survey, and it is able to survey half a million people.

We need to lose less often in the fight against the bad guys. Or, at least, lose more gracefully and recover quickly.