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In organizations, once you articulate how success will be measured, everybody tries to game the system so that they are measured in the best possible way.
Clayton M. Christensen
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Success metrics often lead people to manipulate their actions to meet those criteria.

Clayton M. Christensen highlights the tendency of individuals within organizations to focus on meeting success metrics, sometimes at the expense of genuine performance or ethical standards. When success is measured by specific metrics, employees may prioritize those goals over broader objectives, leading to a culture of manipulation rather than true achievement.

Themes

SuccessMetricsManipulationPerformanceOrganizations

In practice

Example use cases

During a corporate training session to discuss the impact of performance metrics.

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Quote by Clayton M. Christensen | QuoteProject