Measure vs Manage

Somebody says if you cannot measure something, then you would not be able to manage it. Is this true? Many involving in programmes planning and implementation will share the same sentiments. However, for those in the community development and voluntarisme movement especially for the action-oriented people, this requirement might be too demanding on them. I witnessed how community leaders plan and execute their projects without much details planning. I heard about them not too keen on submitting progress or outcome reports due to time constraint and bureaucratic requirement. Even some do not want to participate in the competition or nomination for awards because of the requirement to go through their records and to write paragraph of statement. So, for these people it is pointless of asking them to quantify what they have done.

Having said this, some will argue that without knowing the result achieved, how can we improve and move forward? I think this is major obstacle we are facing on the ground as many local community groups are short handed and obviously writing report and managing records are not their top priority. For them, showing result instantly is more critical. Thereby, capacity building and providing resources are important if we would like to see community development by the local groups blossom and sustain. The agencies and experts must help in strengthening the capacity of community groups in this aspect --- book keeping and quantification of result. I presume this explain why the calling for submission of PJ Sustainable Community Award met with cold shoulder so far. I was make to understand that only 10 nominations were received up now, a drop of half compared to last year.