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January 25, 2007
The Dark Side of Performance Management
Measurement drives behavior. Every student in the social sciences knows the Hawthorne Effect. This phenomenon dates back to the 1930s, the days of the scientific management. One of the experiments in the Hawthorne Works in the USA was about measuring the relationship between the level of illumination in the factory and the workers productivity. When the lighting level was increased, as expected productivity went up. Then, as scientists need to test all conditions, the lighting level was decreased. And productivity went.... up! That was unexpected. Lastly, the researchers reset the lighting level, and productivity went up... again. It was prof. Mayo from Harvard who explained the phenomenon. It wasnt the illumination that impacted the productivity, but the fact the productivity was measured.
Today there are countless examples of behaviors that are driven by measurement, in every single organization. Sometimes functional, many times also dysfunctional. Many people will have heard of the term budget games.
Together with the Deloitte CPM Blog we are launching a small inventory of the games that you know of, have encountered in the past, or maybe -- if you are really honest -- have played yourself.
Heres one example and my first contribution:
When I was in consulting, december was always one of my busiest months. Government agencies had to spend their remaining budget on all kinds of projects. Useful undoubtedly, but if the timing was optimal?
Please provide us with your examples, and perhaps also other sources in this area!
frank
Posted by Frank Buytenkijk at January 25, 2007 7:31 AM
