"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."

- Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton*

If Einstein knew this, why don't so many others who seem to believe that quantifying things give us the results we need when there are many elements that aren't easily quantifiable that tell us part of the picture.

To give just one example, can you really measure the dynamism of an organization based on its quarterly or even annual profit figures? Can it be dynamic without great results at the moment? Aren't results sometimes non-linear? And isn't this, perhaps, proof of a dynamic organization (i.e. if the results are linear, like the results of GE under Jack Welch's years, are proof that something's not quite right)?

Just wondering.


* hat tip, Tom Peters tweet