The Quantified Society

Grades, step counters, KPI’s, 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? In a riveting journey through hospitals, schools, banks and other firms, and valuable insights from scholars, philosophers, sociologists and motivational psychologists, The Quantified Society seeks to answer these questions.


“Van der Kolk offers a unique and unusual take on the realities and implications of how we measure performance.” – UK Management Platform Thinkers50
“A critical look at seemingly rock-solid numbers.” – Belgian newspaper HBVL
“A valuable book.” – Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad
“A fascinating book, a must-read.” – Professional psychology journal De Psycholoog