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Misaligned Incentives

Misaligned Incentives

Misaligned incentives are when the behaviour your system rewards diverges from the outcomes your strategy requires. People don't sabotage on purpose — they optimise for the scoreboard that decides pay, status, and safety. Perverse incentives: margin erosion disguised as growth, KPI gaming, budget waste, and the quiet ways organisations teach the wrong lessons.
18
Feb
Black-and-white industrial control panel with rows of switches and cables; one central switch stands out in vivid acid yellow under harsh side lighting

Your company runs on an operating system you never designed

Most companies have values on the wall. Very few have values in the operating system. After twenty-five years of watching the gap between the two, I think I know where it breaks. Spoiler: it's not where the consultants are looking.
8 min read
28
Jan
A machine built for momentum, paused mid-trajectory. One acid-yellow ball, caught between bumpers, waiting for the next force to make the system move

Incentives: the silent architect of strategy sabotage

If you want to align incentives with strategy, start here: strategy rarely fails in the slide deck. It fails in the reward system.
9 min read