Goodhart's Law
When a measure becomes a target it stops being a good measure; people optimise the number, the number detaches from the goal, and the dashboard turns green while the business turns red.
An everyday example
Support tickets 'resolved' in record time by closing them unresolved.
What it can cost you
Managing proxies; teams gaming metrics you designed; being shown gamed metrics by counterparts.
Warning signs
- The metric is green and the customers are leaving.
- People are hitting the target in ways that miss the point.
One thing to do
Pair every target with a counter-metric that gaming would damage; audit the metric against the underlying goal periodically; expect gaming and design for it.
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