The mismeasurement virus: Have we over-reacted to Covid-19 numbers? Ted Black

If you are old enough to remember Y2K, the turn of the century that was going to spark computer mayhem, then you are attuned to experts getting things very wrong. The computer boffs blinded the world with predictions that computer clocks would misinterpret the date change to 1900 instead of 2000, sparking widespread chaos. Laws were passed to encourage companies to share information and, as Britannica notes, an estimated $300bn was spent (almost half in the United States) to upgrade computers and application programs to be Y2K-compliant. But nothing happened to computers when midnight passed, leaving many with the distinct impression that Y2K was a bit of a scam. We all fell for it because computers are complicated beasts and we couldn't decipher the language of tech specialists – and failed to ask them to demystify the details. As Covid-19 statistics are bandied about, number cruncher Ted Black – South Africa's Return on Assets Managed specialist – ponders whether most of the world's governments are over-reacting to the Covid-19 numbers. He draws on his expertise in business reports to illustrate how easy it is to mismanage when the measurements aren't quite right. – Jackie Cameron

The deadly virus of mismeasurement

By Ted Black*

The importance of right measurements has emerged with the Covid-19 outbreak. We know that what gets measured gets managed. It's also true that what's mismeasured gets mismanaged.

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