The Target Trap

Jogging home from the supermarket taught me about targets.

“Hey Simon, where’re you rushing to?”, asked my neighbour.

“Just finishing my jog!”, I spluttered.

“With a loaf of bread?”, they responded, quizzically.

I suddenly recalled the bread in my hand. “Oh”, I replied, “if I jog for another 5 minutes, my health insurance company will give me a free cinema ticket!”.

“Let’s hope they make it a good seat!”, he replied with a smile.

As I chuckled and died a little inside, something in my head clicked.

Whilst my insurance company’s incentive of a free cinema ticket in return for hitting an excercise target had altered my behaviour, it was temporary: this week I wanted to watch Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, but next week I’ll enjoy resuming my lazy lifestyle.

Each year I also set myself a reading target. But this has created unintended consequences: I now focus on shorter books, and persevere even if a book is unenjoyable - just so I can hit my target and receive a dopamine hit.

So, numerical targets - even when backed with an incentive - have only temporary effects and unintended consequences for me. Is this true more widely?

Deming confirms, “People with numerical targets and jobs dependent on meeting them will meet the targets, even if they have to destroy the enterprise to do it.”

What about incentivising scientists, who work in uncertainty?

Suggests Kohn, “To be a good scientist, […] one has to expect and even welcome some negative results. […] But, […] people working for rewards don’t want to risk negative results; they want to succeed as often and as quickly as possible.”

So, incentivisation discourages risk-taking, a necessary condition for learning.

As Deming reminds us, “every system is perfectly designed to get the result that it does.” If you’re not getting the results you desire, a better approach is to understand what is causing the undesirable results, and focus there.

If projects are consistently delivered late, don’t set artificial deadlines. Instead, understand the common cause behind the delays - perhaps it’s an unclear goal.

If the sales team are consistently unable to generate the revenue you hope for, don’t set artificial targets. Instead, understand the common cause behind the misses - perhaps it’s a product design defect.

The takeaway? Incentivisation is counterproductive and unnecessary. Your staff are good. Instead, create the conditions for them to succeed. Otherwise, you might find them running around with bread.