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Mar 5, 2023Liked by Max Kraynov

"when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. [MK: this partially explains why most KPIs don’t work]."

Not only do they not work, they are thoroughly malignant.

I've worked at my current company for over a decade. My job is specialized and I used to be quite good at it. About 8 years ago we got a new manager who is obsessed with KPIs. Completion rates of PM forms is his main obsession. No one cares if the work actually gets done or if the work has any value. He just wants to send good looking numbers off each week.

The end result has been that my coworkers and I have become demoralized and now simply bullshit our way through the day. We satisfy his KPI requirements but do nothing of value. He looks great to our head office but our plant is steadily deteriorating and is an impending disaster for some other fool to have to clean up after. When this happens he will simply move on to fleece a new set of corporate fools.

If we lived in a sane and rational world, anyone who used the term KPI would be immediately fired.

KPI's have made liars and layabouts of workers and they've made fools of shareholders.

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