Burgess / TVM ... Reaching Out
Cambridge University

Cambridge University Engineering Department ... Institute for Management ... Change the way you score the game, and you change the way the game is played!

Peter Burgess
Change the way you score the game, and you change the way the game is played!
1 message
Peter Burgess
Wed, May 22, 2013 at 1:33 PM
To: ifm-enquiries@eng.cam.ac.uk

I am not sure who this should be sent to since the issue of metrics does not appear to feature as a core issue in your work.

There has been much progress in science and technology since I graduated from Cambridge in 1961 ... absolutely amazing progress. There are more young people educated around the world than at any time in history ... yet the global economy is in a funk. Why is this?

I argue that the terrible trio of prevailing metrics are to blame, that is: (1) money profit for the business; (2) stock prices for investors; and, (3) GDP growth for policy makers. These metrics completely ignore the externalities ... the impact on people, place and planet. I also argue that the money system that we use has something to do with the dysfunction.

When Adam Smith described the economy in 1776, things were very different than they are today. The system has evolved. I believe it is high time to rethink the metrics we use to describe the state, progress and performance of society.

After engineering (Mechanical Sciences Tripos Part I) I did some economics (Tripos Part II) and then after a short stint in heavy engineering became a Chartered Accountant. I had a fairly successful corporate career before migrating into international development (as a consultant to the World Bank, UN and others) and eventually became deeply concerned that there was a disconnect between what we could be doing and should be doing, and what we actually were (are) doing.

Some people describe the situation as a system problem. I prefer to think of this as a metrics problem. What I call TrueValueMetrics (TVM) is about value accountancy that embraces both the money profit of conventional accounting and the value flows that determine quality of life. I argue that the primary purpose of economic activity is to produce the goods and services that are needed to maintain a decent quality of life ... a very different end game than the idea that economic activity is merely to accumulate the most money.

Because the money metrics are ubiquitous, change is difficult ... but I believe that change is essential in order for the future to be optimized. What has been done in the past is not sustainable ... whether it is fossil fuels, carbon footprint, water, waste, and the rest. TVM can be a game changer.

My question is simple. How does an institution like the Cambridge University Engineering Department get involved in reform of the metrics that are needed to do a better job of measuring the state, progress and performance of society?

Sincerely

Peter Burgess
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Peter Burgess
TrueValueMetrics ... Meaningful Metrics for a Smart Society
Website: www.truevaluemetrics.org
Blog: http://truevaluemetrics.blogspot.com
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