When Measurement Misses the Mark: Understanding Goodhart's Law

Ever hear of a well-intentioned metric gone awry? That's likely Goodhart's Law in action. Simply put, **Goodhart's Law states that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.**

Imagine a police department measured solely on arrest numbers. Officers, incentivized to hit targets, might focus on easy arrests instead of solving serious crimes. The *number* goes up, but actual public safety may decline.

This happens because focusing solely on a metric encourages people to optimize *for the metric itself*, often at the expense of the intended goal. In education, teaching to the test is a classic example. Performance improves on the test, but genuine understanding might suffer.

Goodhart's Law highlights the importance of thoughtful metric design and constant evaluation. Don't let your measures become meaningless; focus on the real outcomes you desire!