"What gets measured gets managed"

Biological Parallel

Peahens select mates based on measurable traits—tail feather eye-spot count, symmetry, brightness—creating intense selection pressure on exactly those features. Males evolve extravagant tails not because they're useful but because they're measured. The result: peacocks with tails so large they hinder escape from predators. Similarly, organizations that measure only quarterly earnings get short-term optimization at the expense of long-term health. What gets measured gets managed, but measurement without wisdom creates runaway selection for metrics that destroy the system. Peacock tails are Goodhart's Law made flesh.