We become what we measure. Economists, social scientists, experts in performance management prove this repeatedly. Whatever gets quanti ed receives attention. And whatever receives attention gets acted on. As one Harvard Business Review columnist put it, “What you measure is what you’ll get. Period.”
Over the past few decades, the old adage has gained relevance in the realms of corporate real estate, as organizations striving for a better return on investment paid increasing attention to the metrics of asset management. Because every organization implements agile and collaborative work practices in its own unique way, we knew that bench- marking metrics like “number of shared seats per person” would not ultimately prove useful to either our customers or their design partners. We wanted big-picture data that would show us where workplace design is headed—meaningful measures that will help an organization achieve and continuously improve on a responsive o ce landscape.