Is it really true that what gets measured gets done?

The line about measuring comes from the "classic" management book In Search of Excellence. And it's true that if you don't measure, don't have solid objectives and metrics, it can be very difficult to accomplish changes you set out to accomplish.

I am intrigued by the effort in Gainesville, Florida, where statistics on how many motorists yield to pedestrians are being displayed on one major street. See "GPD tracks percent of drivers yielding to pedestrians," from the Gainesville Sun.

Doug Finger/The Gainesville Sun. Percentages on Gainesville drivers yielding to pedestrians is displayed on a traffic sign on SW 13th Street Monday, April 5, 2010.

From the article:

Gainesville's campaign to get drivers to yield for pedestrians is apparently showing results. Signs placed in several locations around town show that more than half of the drivers in the city now yield to pedestrians.

The 4-foot-by-8-foot green signs with white letters were put up around the city earlier this year to remind motorists and pedestrians of the progress being made during the campaign.

The signs state "Gainesville drivers yielding to pedestrians" and list the percentage of drivers who yielded during the previous week and the record high percentage who yielded during the campaign. Last week's 52-percent yield rate is the record, so far.

"What we want to do is to increase the yield rate by drivers for pedestrians to at least 60 percent," said Gainesville police Sgt. Joe Raulerson.

Gainesville is using a $94,000 federal grant to erect the signs as part of an effort to educate drivers about Florida's pedestrian laws. Drivers are required to yield to pedestrians who have entered crosswalks and must stop when necessary to let a pedestrian cross the street, Raulerson said. While many crosswalks are marked, Raulerson said, drivers must also yield or stop for pedestrians at intersections without pavement markings.