Goodhart's Law in Software Development - The Metrics Trap

Hillel Wayne's article delves into Goodhart's law in the context of software engineering. Goodhart's law, articulated by Charles Goodhart, posits that once a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. In this piece, Wayne emphasizes the importance of metrics in the software development process and the pitfalls that can arise from their misuse. He uses various examples from the tech industry to illustrate his points. The focus is on how an excessive concentration on metrics can lead to unintended negative consequences, such as diminishing the quality of the product. The aim of the article is to spark a discussion on how to best establish and utilize metrics to foster healthy software development.