Book (ebook): order here.
Book (hard copy): Expected on Amazon.com, May 2024.
Book/ebook, The Netherlands / Belgium: order here.
ISBN: 9789047017967.
Publisher: Business contact, Amsterdam.
Sample text: click here.

Grades, step counters, KPIs, ratings, review scores: every day we attempt to make sense of the world we live in by quantifying it. Students are as good as their average grade, employees have to achieve SMART goals, and doctors receive patient satisfaction ratings. We compare our scores with those of others and create rankings of the most productive colleagues, the best universities, and the sportiest friends.

Berend van der Kolk shows what quantification does to us and our society. We raise the bar, the pressure to perform increases, and we lose sight of what really matters. When do the costs of metrics outweigh the benefits? And is there a way out? The Quantified Society embarks on a captivating journey spanning hospitals, schools, banks, and other organizations, while drawing upon insights from economists, philosophers, sociologists, and psychologists, to address these fundamental questions.

“Van der Kolk offers a unique and unusual take on the realities and implications of how we measure performance”

Thinkers50 (UK Management platform)

“A valuable book”

Algemeen dagblad (Dutch newspaper)

“A critical look at seemingly rock-solid numbers”

HBVL (Belgian newspaper)

“It should be a mandatory read in any management curriculum”

De limburger (Dutch newspaper)

“A fascinating book, a must-read”

De psycholoog (professional psychology journal)