Of Teams and Perf

Hey Coach! How about this: to get higher scores, let’s keep a separate scoreboard for each player on our team. If they score high, we should pay them more. If they score low, we should replace them. What do you think?

Hey Engineering Manager! How about this: to get more done, let’s do a periodic performance review for each engineer on our team. If they score high, we should pay them more. If they score low, we should replace them. What do you think?

An individual contributor gets paid to perform to the company’s goals. Each contributor is periodically reviewed with a performance review (a.k.a. perf) as a compilation of impact ranked by outward visibility. Altruism, reflexivity, and growth are inward and invisible.

Helping a teammate boosts their perf, not one’s own. Writing a thoughtful feedback message comes at the expense of writing one’s own perf package. And why share lessons learned with those who you compare scores with?

Are we really surprised when nobody passes the ball?