Abstract
Strathern examines audit culture in British universities and crystallises the popular form of Goodhart’s Law — when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.
Strathern, M. (1997). ‘Improving ratings’: audit in the British University system. European Review, 5(3), 305–321.
Key findings
- Audit as target — Rating systems reshape behaviour toward the score, not only toward the underlying craft.
- Memorable phrasing — The essay is a common popularisation bridge from Goodhart’s monetary observation to organisational life.
- Capacity vs display — Optimising the visible rating can decouple display from the capacity the rating claimed to indicate.
Application
When vanity metrics crowd out lead reps, pair this with Vanity Metric and Goodhart’s Law.