Managing the Risks of Measurement
In general, Measurement is an effective risk-reduction practice. The more you measure, the fewer places there are for risks to hide. Measurement, however, has risks of its own. Here are a few specific problems to watch for.
Overoptimization of single-factor measurements. What you measure gets optimized, and that means you need to be careful when you define what to measure. If you measure only lines of code produced, some developers will alter their coding style to be more verbose. Some will completely forget about code quality and focus only on quantity. If you measure only defects, you might find that development speed drops through the floor.
It's risky to try to use too many measurements when you're setting up ...
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