In quantum mechanics, measurements collapse the wavefunction, spoil superposition, and generally make quantum states more boring. However, recent developments have revealed that they can also give rise to a variety of new effects in quantum many-body systems. In particular, enhancing regular unitary time evolution by adding local measurements can act as a shortcut to obtaining topological order, and in some cases even gives rise to new non-equilibrium phases of matter. In addition, measurements can be used as a tool to "disentangle" and characterize complicated quantum states. After reviewing the notion of entanglement as an order parameter, I will provide a brief overview of the role that measurements play in enriching the landscape of quantum many-body physics, from topological states to phase transitions.