Beneficial Intelligence is out. This week: Gaming the metrics. You need measures to manage, but when measures are used to praise or blame, employees will optimize for them. You need carefully paired metrics in order to avoid people gaming them.
Amazon tried and failed. They have an app to record driving behavior, but they also require a lot of packages delivered in a short time. Delivery companies are instructing their drivers to game the metrics by driving carefully at first, then switch off the app and drive like the devil.
As an IT leader, getting your measurements right is one of the most important part of managing your IT organization. If you are not carefully establishing paired metrics, you can be sure your metrics are being gamed.
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