As I read this article at RealClearHealth by Ross Marchand, what came to mind was the problems that rise from not having clear, established performance metrics. That’s a problem with many government programs. How can you tell it’s succeeding if you don’t know what its objective is or how to measure whether it’s accomplishing its objectives? For some success or failure is measured in dollars—it either fails or succeeds based on how much you spend. That reminds me of Santayana’s definition of fanaticism as redoubling your efforts when you have lost sight of your goal.
I hope you will forgive the cynicism, but I doubt that program efficacy is of much concern for many of those fanatics. They don’t really want to know. Which reminds me of a quip by professional golfer Fred Couples, “I don’t often answer the phone, I’m afraid someone might be on the other end.â€
What a crappy, vague piece. Surprised it merits comment.
Steve
I presume you noticed that I didn’t address his remarks specifically, only the general premise that the effectiveness of programs is worth measuring.