ABSTRACT
Frederick the Great’s advice that one who tries to protect everything protects nothing applies to performance indicators as well. An organization that tries to measure everything similarly ends up measuring nothing because a workforce that has to pay attention to a huge laundry list of key performance indicators (KPIs) cannot devote to each one the attention it might or might not deserve. The eventual result is that most or all soon become meaningless. “Five or less” is a frequently quoted rule of thumb.
