This is something I kept trying to convey to the organizations I worked in. I tried explaining that sport-specific and athlete-oriented assessments, especially in individual sports would be more meaningful, but I couldn't succeed. Here in India, there is almost like an obsession to administer tests without really putting a thought into what will even be helpful or not.
I appreciate your observations in this and an area to look into more during upcoming meetings. It’s an art with how we present it and it doesn’t come with a straightforward “how to”, but how we present it up front can give us a good indication if that is even an organization we want to work with
I think the best book to read in this area is "The Tyranny of Metrics" which isn't quite as anti-metrics as it may sound. It speaks largely to how we tend to measure what's easy, and not what matters.
For me as a budding practitioner, my concern is to demonstrate value, not just to my client or employer, but to myself. I want to get better at measurements and assessments, although I don't want to be reliant on them, I think they have a great deal of complimentary utility.
The approach I favour is like that of the US Federal Reserve Bank, and their "Beige Book" which gives a snapshot of the health of the US economy. It has metrics of course, but those metrics are coloured by anecdotes of behaviour that give life to the metrics. I think this serves to feed both the scientific and the story-minded among us.
Thanks for sharing! I hear you. It’s always a balance of how to provide value for both our clients and ourselves. I appreciate your comment around mentioning it needing to be valuable to you as well. If it doesn’t help us do our job than that doesn’t help either! And finally keep up your perspectives on the story-minded balance and the metrics. They are both important.
This is something I kept trying to convey to the organizations I worked in. I tried explaining that sport-specific and athlete-oriented assessments, especially in individual sports would be more meaningful, but I couldn't succeed. Here in India, there is almost like an obsession to administer tests without really putting a thought into what will even be helpful or not.
I appreciate your observations in this and an area to look into more during upcoming meetings. It’s an art with how we present it and it doesn’t come with a straightforward “how to”, but how we present it up front can give us a good indication if that is even an organization we want to work with
I think the best book to read in this area is "The Tyranny of Metrics" which isn't quite as anti-metrics as it may sound. It speaks largely to how we tend to measure what's easy, and not what matters.
For me as a budding practitioner, my concern is to demonstrate value, not just to my client or employer, but to myself. I want to get better at measurements and assessments, although I don't want to be reliant on them, I think they have a great deal of complimentary utility.
The approach I favour is like that of the US Federal Reserve Bank, and their "Beige Book" which gives a snapshot of the health of the US economy. It has metrics of course, but those metrics are coloured by anecdotes of behaviour that give life to the metrics. I think this serves to feed both the scientific and the story-minded among us.
Great article Russ!
Thanks for sharing! I hear you. It’s always a balance of how to provide value for both our clients and ourselves. I appreciate your comment around mentioning it needing to be valuable to you as well. If it doesn’t help us do our job than that doesn’t help either! And finally keep up your perspectives on the story-minded balance and the metrics. They are both important.