I’ve been talking to managers recently about what really frustrates them.
It’s how much of their time is drained managing performance.
But the problem often isn’t the people. It’s the system.
For example, setting targets often results in gaming behaviour. The objective becomes hitting the target, rather than doing the work in a way that’s best for the customer.
We see this play out often:
- the surgeon that avoids cases that hurt their stats
- the salesperson that offers a ridiculous discount to get their bonus
- the CEO that uses layoffs to maintain quarterly EBITDA
People will behave in ways that are rational for the system that employs them.
If you want them to act differently, you have to change the way the system works.
That’s the insight Deming had.
“A bad system will beat a good person every time.”
Next time, try fixing the system before fixing the people.
Handcrafted insight 