The observer effect of engineering productivity measurement

The discussion about measuring developers’ productivity has been strong in recent years. We’ve seen many articles, hot takes, reports from renowned consulting firms, and Twitter/X battles over the difference of opinions on the topic. Why does it attract so much attention of engineering leaders across the globe? Because we want to know. We want to know if our leadership efforts help move the needle. Because, as Peter Drucker said, “you cannot improve what you don’t measure”, right? …Right?

Whereas there’s certainly truth to this popular quote, measuring engineering productivity we should certainly remain mindful of something that is known from physics: the observer effect. The very fact that we measure engineering productivity changes it already. So, what can we do to minimise it?

Let’s have a look together into how engineering productivity could be measured in the least intrusive and most useful way.