Statistics
August 25, 2006I just saw that we’ve got some nifty statistics on these WordPress blogs – something that Eponym.com did not have. As noted earlier, I started this blog simply so that I could try out this Netscape plugin (which I’ve still not gotten working), but the stats definitely has me sold as I’m a sucker for stats.
Ever since I learned about Statistics management from a course I took at my Church of Scientology, I found statistics of nearly any sort absolutely riveting. Statistics arent just numbers – they have meaning, and in themselves are an incredible analysis tool which can give one a course of action. The World Institute of Scientology Enterprises has whole courses of study just on management by statistics. It removes the whole idea of management by opinion. One can then plan and program out handlings for things, whereas before there may just have been confusion.
Anyhow, I just wanted to put in that plug, seeing as though websites are probably the most core area where one has to grab hold of a statistics program like WebTrends or HBX and dig in to stats — as if you’re running anything more major than, say, a blog – you need to be able to know precisely what’s going on, and then be able to formulate a course of action as a result.
This [management by statistics] was one of the reasons for the utter and absolute collapse of Soviet style communism across Russia and East Europe.
Management by statistics. 5 year plans and the whole bit, managed from the top down. Nothing gets done, but you must reach your goal, make your stat? Two kinds of cheating. The out and out manipulation of the statistics and loss of quality control. The latter became the Russian trademark. Shoes that did not fit and fell apart quickly. Shoddy clothing, poorly made of inferior materials. Cars that were poorly built. Tractors that died in the field and were left where they were because you couldn’t get parts anyway, and when you did they quickly broke. Bricks that crumbled because they were not fired properly, but they sent them on to make the stats. They all made their yearly stats.
Managers all over Russia found creative ways to make the monthly, yearly and 5 year plan stats and often double the stats expected.
But in reality, in Russia, even though 5 year plans were being made and statistical records broken all the time, nothing worked and there were shortages everywhere.
The whole gerryrigged system eventually ground to a screeching halt. Management by statistics does not work long term. It took 70 years for the entire system to finally reach utter deadlock and for the ideologists at the top to have their noses ground in the facts for a decade till they had to admit the sad truth of the matter.
Scientology is expanding. 8 million members.
The Vladimir Lenin Tractor works is proud to announce it has fulfilled its 5 year plan goals and built 130,000 tractors, 30,000 more than it’s five year goal. All hail Lenin!
Been there, done that.
Valerie –
Unfortunately, Communist Russia was missing some of the more core elements of managing by statistics. If one reads the Scientology Handbook quote I referenced, as well as applicable writings by L. Ron Hubbard on the subject, you’ll see what I’m referring to. Namely:
The Stat Push: Mr. Hubbard wrote extensively about this phenomena of the “stat push” in a policy where he describes people who go only for a figure, and not for the actual valuable product of the activity. Such as trying to produce a statistic of “number of tractors” without actually producing a tractor that is operational and works for the person. Or, perhaps a car salesperson pushing only for a dollar figure of money, without pushing for the product of satisfied customers who have the car that fits their needs.
In any case, one of the key elements of managing by statistics is to have a statistic that factually measures the product one is going for — so that if you actually work and get done what you’re meant to get done, the statistic goes up, and vice versa.
See: http://www.scientologyhandbook.org/SH10_3.HTM