No Mercy / No Malice: Optimization

Hogging seats on a crowded train, not saying excuse me, watching videos on your phone with no headphones in. Sometimes it feels like we don't know how to act anymore. What we have been seeing, increasingly, is people breaking rules. Why should I play by the rules if nobody else is going to do that for me? This week on Explain It to Me, how to mind your manners.

New episodes Sundays wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Scott Galloway and this is No Mercy, No Malice. We're measuring everything, sleep, calories, daily steps. At some point, optimizers fall prey to obsession, reducing life to a series of tasks and quantifiable outcomes while missing everything that matters. Optimization, as read by George Hahn.

What gets measured gets managed is often misattributed to Peter Drucker, the father of modern management theory. The full quote, from business journalist Simon Colkin, is a warning, not a promise. What gets measured gets managed, even when it's pointless to measure and manage it, and even if it harms the purpose of the organization to do so. In other words, our mania for measurement can obscure what matters most. Consider the popularity of health and fitness apps and the personal optimization trend those technologies enable.

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