--- title: "Goodhart's Law in Software Engineering" url: https://daily.dev/posts/goodhart-s-law-in-software-engineering-lh7ybgd6b source_url: https://buttondown.com/hillelwayne/archive/goodharts-law-in-software-engineering/ type: article source: "Lobsters" published: 2024-09-18T20:13:10.711Z updated: 2024-12-09T13:00:42.332Z tags: ["agile", "project-management"] reading_time: 6 upvotes: 21 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Goodhart's Law in Software Engineering **[Lobsters](https://daily.dev/sources/lobsters)** · 6 min read · 21 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Goodhart's Law highlights how metrics in software engineering can become counterproductive when they turn into targets. The law's weak version suggests that people may manipulate metrics, while the strong version warns that even honest pursuit of these metrics can be detrimental. Examples in engineering include using test coverage as a proxy for thorough testing and lines of code for productivity. The solution is elusive, but combining multiple metrics and using best engineering judgment may help mitigate the effects. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Don’t just attend KubeCon \+ CloudNativeCon, Merge Forward your experience\!](https://daily.dev/posts/don-t-just-attend-kubecon-cloudnativecon-merge-forward-your-experience--l0rpp73x8) · CNCF · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Announcing H2 2026 KCDs](https://daily.dev/posts/announcing-h2-2026-kcds-m96goajm1) · CNCF · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Two months of Open Community Groups](https://daily.dev/posts/two-months-of-open-community-groups-asf52zhbs) · CNCF · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [CNCF Unveils Schedule for KubeCon \+ CloudNativeCon Europe 2026](https://daily.dev/posts/cncf-unveils-schedule-for-kubecon-cloudnativecon-europe-2026-ikhcoa5cb) · CNCF · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [CNCF Debuts KubeCon \+ CloudNativeCon Japan 2026 Schedule](https://daily.dev/posts/cncf-debuts-kubecon-cloudnativecon-japan-2026-schedule-xp5pyudub) · CNCF · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#agile](https://daily.dev/tags/agile), [#project-management](https://daily.dev/tags/project-management) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/goodhart-s-law-in-software-engineering-lh7ybgd6b)