Fighting fears about performance measurement.

• Author: Mucha, Michael J.
• Position: Measuring Up 2.0 - Book review

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Measuring Up 2.0

By Jonathan Walters

Governing Books

2007, 94 pages, $24.95

As Jonathan Waiters notes in Measuring Up 2.0, the most powerful and pervasive enemy of performance measurement is fear. While many jurisdictions credit their performance management systems with impressive gains in service quality and efficiency, increased transparency, and, ultimately, better government, some individuals remain skeptical. That is to be expected--adopting performance measurement represents significant change, and when change occurs, it is almost guaranteed to face resistance from some quarters.

This book is not a how-to guide, but it provides an excellent resource for combating opposition to change. In one chapter, Waiters discusses and then challenges seven common reasons people give for why performance measurement will not work. And overall, Measuring Up provides a lively and powerful resource that demonstrates how performance measurement is quickly becoming standard practice among well-run governments.

Jurisdictions have designed many varieties of performance measurement systems, and this book cites plenty of examples. Not everyone agrees on specific performance measurement tools--the chapter on reporting provides a good example of this--but Waiters provides some common principles. Chapters focus on system components such as "stats" and benchmarking with other organizations, and also key issues such as performance-based contract ing, the role of elected officials, "punishment-based" performance measurement, and the difficulty of measuring certain services.

Some common themes emerge throughout Measuring Up. The most important of these are:

1) Performance measurement is just the initial step. It will not improve anything by itself, but is a tool that can produce important benefits.

2) Governments, agencies, and departments must define their missions and begin focusing on results--and on the right results. Doing so allows governments to not just work toward a vague goal of increased efficiency, but to be more efficient at doing the right things.

3) Effective measurement that results in positive changes has to be integrated into all areas of the organization--planning, justifying budget requests, evaluating employees, engaging and responding to citizens, and so on. Obviously, this kind of commitment requires that executives, managers, staff, and elected officials understand and use performance measurement.

4) To create a system...