The mental model for Software Engineering work

The earlier in the cycle you measure, the easier it is to measure. And also the more likely that you introduce unintended consequences like people gaming the system to seem more “productive”.

Other areas have an easier time to measure because their outcome and impact are clear, obvious and directly affected by their effort and output. SWE is not like this.

The later in the cycle you measure, the harder it is to attribute results to individuals or teams. This in turn causes earlier measurements to be interesting, but has the side-effect mentioned above.

Measurement tradeoffs: capturing impact and outcomes boosts alignment, but makes it harder to attribute individuals’ contribution. But measuring earlier in the cycle creates unintended consequences, as people stop caring about group or company goals