The difference between feedback and measurement

This final post of a series of posts that look at Margaret Wheatley's rich collection of lists on organizations and leadership, focuses on feedback. All life thrives on feedback for sustenance and growth. But prevailing organizational proactices rely on measurement rather than feedback as a way to monitor qualities such as accountability, innovation and teamwork. Margaret Wheatley makes these distinctions between feedback and measurement:

Feedback	Measurement
Context-dependent	One size fits all.
Self-determined; the system chooses what to notice.	Imposed. Criteria are established externally
Information is accepted from anywhere.	Information is put in fiexed categories.
System creates its own meaning.	Meaning is predetermined.
Newness, surprise are essential.	Prediction, routine are valued.
The focus is on adaptability and growth.	The focus is on stability and control.
Meaning evolves.	Meaning remains static.
The system coadapts with its environment.	The system adapts to the measure.

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