Interesting read and nice examples! The goal and quantification of that needs to be clear, but that remains a complex topic without any generic solution I guess. System orientation and thought experiments seem like a good approach.
This is a great illustration of how systems reorganize around incentives. Once a metric becomes the goal, the system can look successful while drifting further from the original intent. The real failure is when they lose the mechanism that reliably pulls behavior back toward outcomes.
Thank you for the mention as well! Nice surprise :)
I like the quote "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure". I observe that in my agile coaching work, where teams are so fixated on metrics, they forget to create real improvements that would actually impact their work. "We don't want to be seen as red on the dashboard" becomes a higher priority than "We know what to improve to see long-term effects".
Interesting read and nice examples! The goal and quantification of that needs to be clear, but that remains a complex topic without any generic solution I guess. System orientation and thought experiments seem like a good approach.
Thanks @Steffen!
The aim is to get the best possible set of incentives without overthinking it that much.
And yes, as you mentioned, systems thinking plus trying to imagine the outcome seems to be the best approach :)
This is a great illustration of how systems reorganize around incentives. Once a metric becomes the goal, the system can look successful while drifting further from the original intent. The real failure is when they lose the mechanism that reliably pulls behavior back toward outcomes.
Thanks for your take!
Thank you for the mention as well! Nice surprise :)
I like the quote "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure". I observe that in my agile coaching work, where teams are so fixated on metrics, they forget to create real improvements that would actually impact their work. "We don't want to be seen as red on the dashboard" becomes a higher priority than "We know what to improve to see long-term effects".
Yes, and in teams, there is also peer pressure and judgement of performance.
That could be a contributing factor to burnout, right?
Thanks for the input, Alicja!
Thanks for the mention 🙂
Well deserved, it's a great article.
Yes, definitely. It’s difficult to predict that, and hindsight always plays a part. Thanks for your take!