The Field Guide › Article

Goodhart's / Cobra Effect

Tom Geraghty · Measurement, Power

Explains Goodhart's Law, Campbell's Law, and the Cobra Effect — what happens when measures become targets. Applied directly to PS surveys and measurement programmes, showing how optimising for scores rather than safety produces the opposite of the intended outcome.

Connected concepts (19)

• Thinking About Process Safety Indicators (paper)
• A Question of Trust (paper)
• Analysis of the Iridium 33-Cosmos 2251 Collision (paper)
• Dysfunctional Consequences of Performance Measurements (paper)
• Principles of Ethical Measurement
• Qualitative Measurement of PS
• The Strange Confidence of 360° Feedback
• Academic Fraud & Data Dishonesty
• Beyond Metrics
• Four Stages Critique
• Measuring PS
• PS Index Critique
• Streetlight Effect
• The Case Against Grades (paper)
• The SANE Effect
• Weaponisation of PS
• Coffees for Closers
• Fist of Five Critique
• Reflections Pt 3: The Safety to Dissent