One of the primary challenges with managing and governing IT effectively is that many of the questions that we need to answer are difficult to measure. What is the expected value of a new software project? What is the chance of success? How long will the project take? What architectural strategy is best? How effective is a development technique? What is our level of quality? How good is our production data? And so on.


Although these questions are hard to answer, luckily this book provides some proven advice for easily taking measures that enable us to improve our decision making. To understand the value, and ease of, taking presumably difficult measures, in Chapter 2 Hubbard works through examples from past of great thinkers who didn't give up in the face of the "impossible". For example, around 200 BC Eratothenes estimated the circumference of the Earth by observing the lengths of shadows, Enrico Fermi estimated the power of the first atomic bomb by observing the distance that it blew confetti, and at the age of nine Emily Rosa (who became the youngest person to publish in a scientific journal at the age of 11) measured the ability (or more accurately lack there of) of people claiming to have the ability of therapeutic touch. Chapter 3 goes on to discuss the illusion of intangibles, motivating you to abandon the self-defeating belief that some things are just too hard to measure. Chapter 4 clarifies the measurement problem, focusing on uncertainty and risk, putting you in a better position to effectively reduce business risk through relatively simple measurement.


Chapters 5 through 7 describe more of the fundamentals behind measurements and the value of improved information, and chapters 8 through 10 describe strategies for doing measurements. Being a firm believer in strategies which reflect human behavior, I was particularly interested in chapters 11 through 14 which cover the human issues around measurement, making a hard science soft again.


If you're tasked with improving your internal metrics program, improving your governance strategy, or simply want to learn about strategies to find out what the heck is actually going on within your organization or industry then this book will prove to be a good idea. Hubbard uses straightforward, easy to understand examples throughout the book, thereby simplifying many complex ideas for the reader.

A fantastic introduction into probabalistic way of thinking about what you know or think, and how you can develop this into usefull objective measurement frameworks for those things your previously thought were "intangible" or "unknowable"

"I wrote this book to correct a myth that permeates many organizations today: that certain things can't be measured." Douglas Hubbard goes on to note that he has made a career out of measuring the sorts of things many thought were immeasurable. Intangibles, for example, "that appear to be completely intractable to be measured...in a way that is economically justified." Hubbard notes that there are several common misconceptions about intangibles. He offers what he characterizes as a "universal approach," Applied Information Economics (AIE), to measure an intangible, providing with that explanation some "interesting methods for particular problems."

He duly recognizes that only what is most important (tangible or intangible) should be measured; also, that what is currently most important may not retain that importance; and, that information needs change, sometimes significantly and unexpectedly. That said, basic questions must constantly be asked and answered:

1. What are our most important information needs? Why?

2. How best to obtain and then verify that information?

3. What will we then do with that information?

4. How can we then measure (accurately, consistently, and sufficiently) the impact of actions taken based on that information?

To his credit, Hubbard makes every effort to provide information, explanations, and recommendations that are (in his words) as "simple as can be"; nonetheless, some of the material may prove daunting, at least it did to me. I appreciate the inclusion of dozens of real-world examples that illustrate key points. Hubbard also makes effective use of other reader-friendly devices, such as checklists inserted throughout his narrative. In his own words, here is how he organizes his material:

In Section One (Chapters 1-3), he "makes the case that everything is measurable and offers some examples that should inspire readers to attempt measurements even when it seems impossible."

In Section Two (Chapters 4-7), he "begins to get into more specific substance about how to measure things - specifically uncertainty, risk - and the value of information."

In Section Three (Chapters 8-10), he "deals with how to reduce uncertainty by various methods of observation including random sampling and controlled experiments."

And then in Section Four (Chapters 11-14), Hubbard offers "an eclectic collection of interesting measurement solutions and case examples."

Many readers will appreciate having the Appendix (Pages 269-278) which provides both the questions and answers for various calibration tests, including "Calibration Survey for Binary: B" that also includes percentages to indicate degree of confidence that the respondent is correct.

Earlier, I suggested that this is by no means an "easy read." It isn't. Nor will this book respond directly to every executive's immediate needs and objectives. However, it will generously reward those who need assistance with finding and measuring the intangibles in business if they absorb and digest the material with appropriate care. To those about to begin reading this book, Douglas Hubbard offers this recommendation: Write down those things they believe are immeasurable or, at least they are not sure to how to measure. "After reading this book, my goal is that you are able to identify methods for measuring each and every one of them." I presume to add another recommendation: Highlights key passages and titles of checklists. By doing so, you will be able to facilitate, indeed expedite frequent review of key concepts and insights later.

What is the value of $45? You can purchase about 11 gallons of gasoline or How To Measure Anything. The latter provides you with the means to move to another level in business or organizational management. The former may get you to work and back for a week.
I can't say enough good things about Douglas Hubbard's book. It provides all the benefits of statistical prowess without getting bogged down in the math. It is clearly and engagingly written. (I had difficulty putting it down.) It keeps you wanting to learn more. And it is exceedingly practical. The discussion of how to calibrate your ability to estimate ranges is worth the price of the book alone.
How To Measure Anything is one of a kind. I know of nothing that comes close to explaining this material this well. As an added bonus, Hubbard has given readers a web site with downloadable templates that enhance the book's value even further.
If your job or personal life involves making judgments in the face of uncertainty and you would like to know how to reduce the uncertainty without spending a fortune, buy and read this book. You will not regret it.

...you must read this book. Beyond simply breaking down the obstacles to quantification, this book helps you understand the value of the information that quantification provides. If you are responsible for making business decisions or recommendations, you have to read this book.

This book describes one strategic issue: it's possible to measure anything. Today this is one of most important points for the culture of execution and double this importance wnhe focused on intnagibles.

Perhaps the most frequent question from decision analysis team members is, "How do we get the inputs?" In most evaluations, there are several key variables about which we know little. Consider oil price, for example. We have abundant historical data, yet forecasting future prices is a daunting challenge.
Doug Hubbard has written an entire book about capturing quantitative judgments. His approach differs from the usual decision analysis process. In a conventional analysis, we assume that that a subject matter expert (SME) can be identified for each key variable. Then, a skilled interviewer carefully elicits the SME's judgment through an interview process.
Hubbard takes a different approach. People familiar with the type project are assembled and given calibration training. Becoming calibrated might take perhaps a half-day of practice exercises and feedback. Basically, being "calibrated" means that one can consistently provide judgments of 90% confidence intervals that avoid the "overconfidence" bias. The book provides several example quizzes for the reader to self-assess.
Even though I was well-aware of the overconfidence bias, I still performed poorly on the self-assessment tests (history was never my strong subject!). Of course, the questions for a technical group would be crafted from topics within the area of interest. Whether (a) expert in the quiz subject matter or not and (b) being told in advance that people tend to be overconfident about the quality of their knowledge doesn't seem to affect the overconfident bias. Practice and feedback are the antidotes.
Hubbard's training and consulting examples are engaging. It has been years since I've devoured a technical book so thoroughly. While the reader will pick-and-choose methods of most interest, the "measurement" topic is well-covered.
The book contains many shortcuts and heuristics for rapid problem-solving. Many people never attempt to quantify intangibles. Yet, most people with some modest training are able to provide credible judgments in quantitative form.
A sampling of topics includes:
* Modeling and Monte Carlo simulation
* Designing experiments for measurement
* Decomposition
* Heuristics for obtaining simple statistics
* Value of perfect information, for screening which variables are worthwhile measuring
* Bayes' rule (because we almost always have some prior information about the subject of the observation)
* Cognitive biases
How to Measure Anything is well-written and carefully edited. The companion Web site, [...], offers additional calibration questions, several calculation spreadsheets, and additional information.
Persons reading this book will be the better for it.

Conceptually a good book, It would be better with more examples in the business world such as measuring value of better communincations or value of intellectual property. These are vexing issues today. However, the though process to getting to an answer in this book was worth the price.

Hubbard's book refutes the commonly held belief that intangibles are immeasurable. In the book, he provides a clear definition of measurement and presents a simple and easy to follow method of measuring so-called intangibles. When measurement is viewed as a reduction of uncertainty, as Hubbard suggests, we are freed from finding absolute answers. Hubbard also offers several examples of how measuring intangibles has led real-life businesses to make better decisions.

This book addresses the measurement problem that managers face when it comes to placing a value on the important but vague factors that affect the decision-making process. I like the way he clearly defines the steps that the manager should take. I also like the conversational style of the book.
In general, he shows that measuring associated costs and other phenomena that affect the decision-making process is not that big a deal once you are able to define the aspects that you feel affect your processes and also determine the context in which these aspects are important to you, as a manager.
However,as an accountant, I find that it does not address the issue of intangibles from my perspective. How does the accountant measure physical intangibles that are not accounted for on the books, but that clearly affect the market value of the company? Intangibles like R&D, intellectual property and internally developed software should be accounted for but are not for lack of a dependable method of measurement. The book doesnt provide an answer to this question, so if you are an accountant looking to measure an intangible for purposes of reporting them, this book will not provide an answer, but if you are a manager or just someone who likes placing a value on the happenings that you find interesting, go for it. You will not be disappointed.

The book is excellent! The author brilliantly shows how to put in practice several statistics techniques using simple math accessible to everyone. The shown techniques are applicable to many day-by-day situations and provide an invaluable tool to give rational support to common business decisions.

Mr. Hubbard has hit the nail on the head! As a strategic consultant, the single most frustrating aspect of optimizing and managing corporate strategy is the identification and creation of relevant measures and metrics. Mr. Hubbard has conveyed the approach in a simple and understandable manner allowing us to communicate more effectively with our clients and show measureable progress across the enterprise.

We have found this approach particularly effective for applying focused metrics as part of our approach for selection among multiple investment alternatives. Because of the soundness of method and specification of focused metrics, we are able to more accurately communicate the quantified risks and rewards of each alternative. These metrics can then be carried over into execution and used as indicators focusing program managers on only the most volitile risk variables.

Thank you Doug!

Hubbard explains how to "find the value of intangibles in business." An excellent book and one which should be on every manager's book shelf.

Hubbard has made what can be a deadly dull subject interesting and accessible. I found several examples for measuring exactly what I needed and always felt I could not measure. This book is a must read for leaders including the Master Six Sigma Blackbelt on your staff. Finding the value of intangibles in business has always been a challenge. How to Measure Anything is full of practical ideas for getting to a measurement.

Measurement: reducing the uncertainty. As long as we are not willing to accept a best guess, or educated estimate, or range of possibilities for a difficult to measure item we will not move forward. Our decisions will be flawed. Hubbard put forth these four assumptions which I found to be most useful when thinking about measuring:

1. Your problem is not as unique as you think
2. You have more data than you think
3. You need less data than you think
4. There is a useful measurement that is much simpler than you think.

Numbers can be used to confuse people; especially the gullible ones lacking basic skills with numbers. Therefore we, as leaders, must be committed to making sure the whole organization is data driven and understands the way we can reduce uncertainty through the straight forward techniques Hubbard explains. As he states, "The fact is that the preference for ignorance over even marginal reductions in ignorance is never the moral high ground."

Hubbard gives us a very useful check list for a Universal Approach to Measurement:
1. What are you trying to measure? What is the real meaning of the alleged "intangible?"
2. Why do you care -- what's the decision and where is the "threshold?"
3. How much do you know now -- what ranges or probabilities represent your uncertainty about this?
4. What is the value of the information? What are the consequences of being wrong and the chance of being wrong, and what, if any, measurement effort would be justified?
5. Within a cost justified by the information value, which observations would confirm or eliminate different possibilities? For each possible scenario, what is the simplest thing we should see if that scenario were true?
6. How do you conduct the measurement that accounts for various types of avoidable errors (again, where the cost is less than the value of the information)?

I especially enjoy the approach Hubbard takes to quantify the cost of making measurement based on the value of the information obtained. Too often, I have seen projects founder on either inaction to get data which would be of great value and little cost or, perhaps, the exact opposite -- spending great amounts of time and money to obtain relatively useless information.

To emphasize: After reading Hubbard's excellent book on `How to Measure Anything,' I was able to immediately solve several measurement challenges for my CEO and Business Owner colleagues. This book makes accessible measurement techniques that have eluded many of my colleagues. It should be on every manager's desk. - Dave Kinnear, CEO dbkAssociates, Inc. and Vistage Chair.

This is one of those books that when you get it you wonder why it hadn't been written before or how you got along without it. The book provides a simple process for generating measurements about things that are "un-measurable". Section II (chapters 4 - 7) outline the process along with a set of tools that can be quickly created in Excel. The other sections provide different measurement methods as well as some case studies.

The book is applicable to a wide range of daily real life problems such as measuring the validity of a software development effort and the schedule.

Overall the book is well written and well organized. It's a very easy read and the math in the book is understandable. Its now a part of my library and one of those books that is always open.

Douglas Hubbard covers a broad landscape but does exactly what the title claims; it provides a guide to measuring anything. Hubbard builds from simple concepts to show the practical yet intuitively simple application of some rather advanced statistical techniques. The author's skill is in communicating complex ideas in an easy to follow and motivational flow that builds in a series of seemingly obvious steps.

The book is both philosophical and practical. If one read no more than the first three chapters one's view of the world would be changed forever. Yet the later chapters cover many extremely simple illustrations of some complex statistical concepts. I particularly enjoyed his discussion of the value of information (chapter 7), Bayesian Statistics (chapter 10), and some advanced concepts such as measuring value via observable trade-offs and using prediction markets. No one reading just a portion of this book would walk away without a new insight.

This book would be extremely useful to students in an MBA program or to those pursuing an advanced degree in one of the social sciences. It would provide a valued motivational reference to anyone studying Computer Science, Economics, or Applied Statistics. Anyone teaching or mentoring students in these disciplines might want to review this book for inclusion in their curriculum.

The book also has considerable potential at helping someone working the area of Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence. For example, Steve and Nancy Williams have written a great book titled "The Profit Impact of Business Intelligence". In it they explain the case for managing BI projects as a portfolio of risky investments. They talk of the need to measure the business value of a BI project and to coordinate changes in information flow, workflow, and decision structure so as to maximize that value. Hubbard's book offers ways that business value, cultural change, and process impact can be measured, and therefore managed. The Williams' book talks of the need for Decision Engineering. Hubbard's book gives one the understanding of what a Decision Engineering group would do on a routine basis. The two books together would be of high benefit to any manager trying to develop a "value management" culture.
The Profit Impact of Business Intelligence

The field of Human Capital Management and Workforce Analytics is receiving a lot of attention today. Two books that are particularly helpful in understanding how analytics can help Human Resource managers better support (and in fact drive) organizational performance are "The HR Scorecard" (by Brian E. Becker, Mark A. Huselid, and Dave Ulrich) and "The Workforce Scorecard" (by Mark A. Huselid, Brian E. Becker, and Richard W. Beatty). These books provide a comprehensive list of elements that could be included in a workforce analytics program from recruiting and retention to compensation and talent development. Hubbard's book helps the HR executive identify the critical metrics, what metrics add value and what metrics do not in their environment, and how to prioritize one measurement need over another. Again, Hubbard's book in combination with others will be a great compliment for the leader interested in building a fact-based value oriented decision culture.
The Workforce Scorecard: Managing Human Capital To Execute Strategy
The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy, and Performance

Frist let me say that I've worked with the author to develop effective solutions for the federal government over the last several years, but I never felt 100% confident in my own ability to understand and explain the measurement process to the customer without having the author within arm's reach. Finally, the secrets of information valuation are not only revealed but explained so that analysts, consultants, and managers can advance the certainty of their future decisions without having to first become an actuarial scientist.

If you develop or evaluate or decide business cases and proposals and you're ready to rip the lips off the next person who says "faster ROI" without being able to back it up, then you need to read this book yesterday. Doug explains his techique step by step and provides plenty of examples and case studies to not only support the theory, but to also pass it on to the reader. Make sure you visit the companion website for the book and download all of the materials, spreadsheets, and presentations he makes available. Better decisions are about removing uncertainty and reading this book is the first step in that process.

Great applications for data. The most difficult part of analytics is using data to create usable information. This book does exactly that.

This book is quite difficult to give a rating to. It depends entirely on the intended audience.

I've settled on 4 stars (just) based on the following:

If it is a publicity blurb for Douglas Hubbard consultancies and related work, then it probably deserves 4 to 5 stars. This appears to be what it is actually pitched at.

If it is pitched at those at the same level of knowledge about decision theory, statistical control, game theory, etc, as Hubbard, then I suspect a 4 or a 5 star is appropriate if the testimonials on the book's dust jacket and other related reviews are anything to go by.

If it is pitched at someone trying to apply this thing to measure intangibles and doesn't really care about the mechanics, just the results, then maybe 3 or 4 stars. Although I must say that Hubbard's analogy about managers not needing to know about databases in order to use them is not only a bit mischievous but misses the point - unless, of course, the pitch is at getting people to approach him for consultancy work (see above).

If it is pitched at someone trying to understand where all this stuff come's from, i.e., understanding its derivation from theory or practice, but they don't have relevant doctorates, then I think 1 star is about as far as I'd go.

If it is pitched at showing something interesting which shows promise for the whole field of measurement, then probably 4 to 5 stars.

If it is pitched as a example of fine literature, it doesn't rate at all.

Finally, if it is pitched as a leading edge provocateur having a laugh at traditionalists on the basis of simply getting results, then I think his book deserves 1 star. I'm a great fan of someone showing the strength of their own work not the weaknesses of others. Which Hubbard ultimately doesn't quite achieve by the way.

This little gem, I think, summarises the whole Hubbard philosophy which permeates the whole book: "When we examine our own behaviors closely, its easy to see that only a hypocrite says "life is priceless""(p191, 2007 Hardcover). Oh dear!! 'There are more things in heaven and earth, [Douglas], than are dreamt of in your philosophy' (Shakespeare, priceless).

Despite some of the one star suggestions above, overall, not a bad book. Take it with a grain of salt, and it holds a lot of promise. I have no doubt there is a lot of good stuff buried in the book which people need to dig hard to find. I'm personally more than happy to dig. But does it have to be so hard!!

According to my calculations that's about as much time as I can afford to review this book without transgressing my EVI related cost threshold!!!!

I've read a lot of touchy-feely books on measurement, especially in IT, but this isn't one of them. While this book uses several IT examples it is really about the much broader issue of what measurement really means. It explains how simply assessing our initial uncertainty about an unknown quantity and computing its value of information can guide us to a pragmatic measurement solution. The examples are great. I even found chapters 2 and 3 to be inspirational - I don't think I've every used the word "inspirational" in any way to describe any other book else on measurement.

Excellent, practical treatment of a critical issue in managing technology investments--namely, how can we reliably assess IT project ROI? This question lies at the heart of virtually every strategic IT decision. Yet, answering it is often viewed as being either too difficult to pull off or simply not worth the effort. As a result, organizations are left with project portfolios that are underperforming and wasting resources that could otherwise be applied to lower risk and higher return efforts.
Doug's straightforward treatment of this important topic directly addresses what our clients view as their biggest obstacles to achieving better returns on IT investments:
* Intangibles, esp. potential benefit streams
* Lack of proper instrumentation and measurement infrastructure
* Difficulty in applying the proper financial and statistical concepts
The examples, spreadsheet templates, and download links provide almost any IT organization with the basic tools and know-how to quickly assess what to measure, how to measure, and then how to turn that information into a powerful decision-making tool for your IT organization. The material in this book offers a compelling blueprint for IT governance. This book is accessible to everyone.

Once I received this book I was able to apply many of the author's techniques immediately within our business. The book's web site http://www.howtomeasureanything.com has additional downloads and information I found very useful. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt intangibles are immeasurable.

This book is a complete world-view-changing experience. I'm going to be implementing these ideas in my company ASAP.