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Comment by chiefalchemist | Hacker News Reader

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chiefalchemist·

> KPIs compress away details that stakeholders need to form an understanding.

Comms. It always boils down to comms. Specifically, comms that drive understanding.

KPIs = knowledge.

But what you did, increased understanding.

And what I like to say is: "(Knowledge isn't power.) Understanding Is Power."

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But doesn’t knowledge imply understanding? Otherwise it would just be facts without context.

KPIs are facts. Facts without context don't lead to understanding.

IMO KPIs are metrics to optimize (if they are objective). A set of values is already encoded in them by the specific formula being chosen.

At the extreme, watch Jeopardy. People spitting out their knowledge. Unfortunately, 99 out of 100 times, they have very little *understanding* of the answers they offer.

Knowing the dots doesn't mean you can connect them. And thus, "Understanding Is Power."

I totally get what you mean here, but I don’t know if Jeopardy is a great example. I think of that like trivia which is a skill that you have to practice and exercise. Rote memorization can increase knowledge and definitely helps. (Here comes the but :) ) But I don’t consider someone who has a head full of facts(only) to be knowledgeable. They have to be able to talk about the concepts and theory to back up the facts. The very act of connecting the dots demonstrates knowledge.

Anyway I think we are probably saying the same thing and discussing semantics.(and to be fair it is probably just me:) )

I agree. And that is why I began with "At the extreme..." :)

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