[Verse 1] The boss needs charts and metrics clean To understand what can't be seen Your messy work gets forced into Three targets with a numeric view The spreadsheet shows a tidy row But kills the context you should know [Chorus] Legibility's the price you pay When complex work gets filed away What looks good from the corner suite Might break the magic on your street The more you measure, more you lose The art beneath the data blues [Verse 2] James Scott warned us long ago How states make citizens in rows Organizations do the same Turn departments into data games Your priorities were fluid, smart Now frozen in a template chart [Chorus] Legibility's the price you pay When complex work gets filed away What looks good from the corner suite Might break the magic on your street The more you measure, more you lose The art beneath the data blues [Bridge] Three objectives, numbers neat Make the boardroom feel complete But down below where work gets done The nuance dies, the context's gone Standardized for easy reading Kills the wisdom you were feeding [Verse 3] Your team knew how to pivot when The customer changed course again But OKRs locked you in place Quantified your quarterly race What made you great can't fit the form Complexity becomes the norm [Chorus] Legibility's the price you pay When complex work gets filed away What looks good from the corner suite Might break the magic on your street The more you measure, more you lose The art beneath the data blues [Outro] Readable from way up high But the ground truth starts to die
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