Even though remarkable progress has been made over recent years in the design of performance measurement frameworks and systems, many companies are still primarily relying on traditional financial performance measures. This paper presents an overview of modern descendents and historical antecedents of performance measurement and attempts to give philosophical definition, in fact addressed the evolution of traditional ways of measuring performance. The paper suggests that modern frameworks have indeed addressed the organizations external to them while satisfying the conditions internal to them and providing an analogy of the notion of kuhn’s scientific paradigm. This analogy is consistent with the fundamental proposition of Kuhnian philosophy of science, that progress only happens thorough successive and abrupt shifts of paradigm.Even though remarkable progress has been made over recent years in the design of performance measurement frameworks and systems, many companies are still primarily relying on traditional financial performance measures. This paper presents an overview of modern descendents and historical antecedents of performance measurement and attempts to give philosophical definition, in fact addressed the evolution of traditional ways of measuring performance. The paper suggests that modern frameworks have indeed addressed the organizations external to them while satisfying the conditions internal to them and providing an analogy of the notion of kuhn’s scientific paradigm. This analogy is consistent with the fundamental proposition of Kuhnian philosophy of science, that progress only happens thorough successive and abrupt shifts of paradigm.Even though remarkable progress has been made over recent years in the design of performance measurement frameworks and systems, many companies are still primarily relying on traditional financial performance measures. This paper presents an overview of modern descendents and historical antecedents of performance measurement and attempts to give philosophical definition, in fact addressed the evolution of traditional ways of measuring performance. The paper suggests that modern frameworks have indeed addressed the organizations external to them while satisfying the conditions internal to them and providing an analogy of the notion of kuhn’s scientific paradigm. This analogy is consistent with the fundamental proposition of Kuhnian philosophy of science, that progress only happens thorough successive and abrupt shifts of paradigm.