KPIs are a popular measurement approach. They are everywhere and here to stay. But that doesn’t mean they are a reliable way to improve. In fact, KPIs are structurally incapable of improvement—except as a kind of motivating shock like a bad report card when we were kids. Our parents get on our case; we knuckle down: get better grades quick—solve the problem. And we usually do—solve it enough for the KPI to bump up enough. A pattern forms: bad KPI + vigilant boss + enough problem solving = enough improvement. But what would happen if the measures themselves triggered improvement—without the stu
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