I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science, whatever the matter may be.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- True scientific knowledge requires quantification; without numbers, understanding remains incomplete and immature.
- In plain terms
- If you cant measure it, you do not truly know it yet.
- What can you take from it?
- Measurement is the key to turning vague knowledge into science.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What can you measure about your work?
- Is unmeasured knowledge useless?
Another view
Some valuable human experiences cannot be measured numerically.
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