Praise for "How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business": 'I love this book. Douglas Hubbard helps us create a path to know the answer to almost any question in business, in science, or in life ...Hubbard helps us by showing us that when we seek metrics to solve problems, we are really trying to know something better than we know it now. "How to Measure Anything" provides just the tools most of us need to measure anything better, to gain that insight, to make progress, and to succeed' - Peter Tippett, PhD, M.D. Chief Technology Officer at CyberTrust and inventor of the first antivirus software. 'Doug Hubbard has provided an easy-to-read, demystifying explanation of how managers can inform themselves to make less risky, more profitable business decisions. We encourage our clients to try his powerful, practical techniques' - Peter Schay EVP and COO of The Advisory Council. 'As a reader you soon realize that actually everything can be measured while learning how to measure only what matters. This book cuts through conventional cliches and business rhetoric and offers practical steps to using measurements as a tool for better decision making. Hubbard bridges the gaps to make college statistics relevant and valuable for business decisions' - Ray Gilbert EVP Lucent. 'This book is remarkable in its range of measurement applications and its clarity of style. A must-read for every professional who has ever exclaimed, 'Sure, that concept is important, but can we measure it?" - Dr. Jack Stenner, Co-founder and CEO of MetraMetrics, Inc.

Table of Contents

Preface. Acknowledgements. Section I. Measurement: The Solution Exists. Chapter 1. The Intangibles and the Challenge. Chapter 2. An Intuitive Measurement Habit: Eratosthenes, Enrico & Emily. How an Ancient Greek Measured the Size of the Earth. Estimating: Be like Fermi. Experiments: Not just for adults. Notes on What to Learn from Eratosthenes, Enrico and Emily. Chapter 3. The Illusion of Intangibles: Why Immeasurables Aren't. The Concept of Measurement. The Object of Measurement. The Methods of Measurement. Economic Objections to Measurement. The Broader Objection to the Usefulness of & "Statistics". Ethical Objections to Measurement. Toward A Universal Approach to Measurement. Section II. Before You Measure. Chapter 4. Clarifying the Measurement Problem. Getting the Language Right: What Uncertainty and Risk Really Mean. Examples of Clarification: Lessons for Business from, of all places, Government? Chapter 5. Calibrated Estimates: How Much Do You Know Now? Calibration Exercise. Further Improvements on Calibration. Conceptual Obstacles to Calibration. The Effects of Calibration. Chapter 6. Measuring Risk: Introduction to the Monte Carlo Simulation. An Example for Monte Carlo and Risk. Tools and other Resources for Monte Carlo Simulations. The Risk Paradox. Chapter 7. Measuring the Value of Information. The Chance of Being Wrong and The Cost of Being Wrong: Expected. Opportunity Loss. The Value of Information for Ranges. The Imperfect World: The Value of Partial Uncertainty Reduction. The Epiphany Equation: The Value of a Measurement Changes Everything. Summarizing Uncertainty, Risk and Information Value: The first measurements. Section III. Measurement Methods Chapter 8. The Transition: From What Measure to How to Measure. Tools of Observation: Introduction to the Instrument of Measurement. Decomposition. Secondary Research: Assuming You Weren't the First to Measure It. The Basic Methods of Observation: If One Doesn't Work, Try the Next. Measure Just Enough. Consider the Error. Choose and Design the Instrument Chapter 9. Sampling Reality: How Observing Some Things Tells Us about All Things. Building an Intuition for Random Sampling: The Jelly Bean Example. A Little About Little Samples: A Beer Brewers Approach. The Easiest Sample Statistics Ever. A Sample of Sampling Methods. Measure to the Threshold. Experiment. Seeing Relationships in the Data: An Introduction to Regression Modeling. Chapter 10. Bayes: Adding to What You Know Now. Simple Bayesian. Using Your Natural Bayesian Instinct. Heterogeneous Benchmarking: A "Brand Damage" Application. Getting a Bit More Technical: Bayesian Inversion for Ranges. Section IV. Beyond the Basics. Chapter 11. Preference & Attitudes - The Softer Side of Measurement. Observing Opinions, Values, and the Pursuit of Happiness: The Basics. A Willingness to Pay: Measuring Value via Trade Offs. Putting it all on the Line: Quantifying Risk Tolerance. Quantifying Subjective Tradeoffs: Dealing with Multiple Conflicting Preferences? Keeping the Big Picture in Mind: Profit Maximization vs. Subjective Tradeoffs. Chapter 12. The Ultimate Measurement Instrument - Human Judges. Homo Absurdus: The Weird Reasons Behind Our Decisions. Getting Organized: A Performance Evaluation Example. Surprisingly Simple Linear Models. How to Standardize Any Evaluation: Rasch Models. Removing Human Inconsistency: The Lens Model. Panacea or Placebo?: Questionable Methods of Measurement. Comparing the Methods. Chapter 13. New Measurement Instruments for Management. The 21st Century Tracker: Keeping Tabs with Technology. Measuring the World: The Internet as An Instrument. Prediction Markets: Wall Street Efficiency Applied to Measurements. Chapter 14. A Universal Measurement Method - Applied Information Economics. Bringing the Pieces Together. Case: The Value of The System That Monitors Your Drinking Water. Case: Forecasting Fuel for the Marine Corps. Ideas for Getting Started: A Few Final Examples. Summarizing the Philosophy. Appendix. Calibration Tests. Index.

Author Biography

Douglas W. Hubbard is the inventor of Applied Information Economics (AIE), a measurement methodology that has earned him critical praise from The Gartner Group, Giga Information Group, and Forrester Research. He is an internationally recognized expert in the field of IT value and is a popular speaker at numerous conferences. He has written articles for Information Week, CIO Enterprise, and DBMS Magazine. Formerly with Coopers & Lybrand, he has over twenty years' experience in IT management consulting, including twelve years' experience specifically in teaching organizations to use his AIE method. Dozens of Fortune 500 companies and government agencies have applied his method to IT investments, military logistics, venture capital, aerospace, and environmental issues. Find out more at www.howtomeasureanything.com.