Simon Caulkin (The Observer, 27 May) hit the nail on the head - the obsession with hitting targets is robbing managers of the ability to exercise judgement based on a sound interpretation of the environment.

For years now, managers of all varieties have trotted out the old saying "what gets measured gets done", as though it were akin to a divine mantra.

Of course, we all know it's true. But long term sustainability depends on doing the right things, which aren't necessarily the same as the measured things. Businesses are running enormous risks that their people are getting better and better at doing the wrong things, simply because those are the things that are getting measured.

Environmental awareness, and the ability to make decisions based on judgement requires, in part, the ability to weigh up alternative courses of action in the face of incomplete and often contradictory information. There are plenty of executive development courses that focus on the ability to make decisions in the face of ambiguity as one of the essential characteristics of leadership.

Time and time again we see organisations struggling to make sense of huge data sets derived from multiple source systems. They are almost so busy trying to develop and maintain a system for keeping score that they've lost sight of what the game is all about.

Management information solutions really should do exactly that - inform managers. But having the right information is only the starting point - exercising judgement in deciding what to do on the basis of the information is what really counts. It also means being sufficiently confident to change the basis on which management information is derived to ensure it remains relevant and useful.

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