Scientific Definition
Forced curve performance management produces internal sabotage.
Plain-English Definition
Forced curve performance management produces internal sabotage.
Feynman Explanation
You can't beat the team if you ARE the team that has to lose.
Core Principle
Forced curve performance management produces internal sabotage.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Forced curve performance management produces internal sabotage.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Forced ranking destroys collaboration, predictably.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
You can't beat the team if you ARE the team that has to lose.
Examples
- Microsoft's pre-Nadella stack ranking era.
- Forced ranking destroys collaboration, predictably.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Calibration without forced curves.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Calibration without forced curves.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
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Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
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Narrowly tied bonuses get gamed; people optimize the metric, not the underlying goal.
Re-hires often get raises larger than internal promotions.
Pay tied to stock price encourages short-term price management.
CEO pay tied to size rewards deal-making even when acquisitions destroy value.
Sales forecasts under-set to ensure attainment bonus.
Capital tied to growth rates funds unsustainable scaling and unit-economics denial.
Managers measured by team size grow teams beyond need.
Awards reward visible novelty; quiet excellence goes unrecognized.
Innovation programs designed to signal innovation, not to produce it.