The moment it becomes a target
What changes when the number somebody produces is the number they are judged on.
The Day It Became a Target
A measure and a target are different instruments. The moment a utilisation figure acquires a threshold, what it measures changes.
Goodhart's Law in a Timesheet
The general principle is well known. The specific mechanism in time recording is worth setting out, because it explains which measures survive a target and which do not.
How Fast a Figure Can Honestly Improve
Real improvement in utilisation comes from four sources, all slow. Anything fast is reclassification.
The Information That Stops Arriving
A target does not only change behaviour. It removes the firm's ability to see certain categories of work, permanently, while the target is in force.
When a Target Is Really a Headcount Decision
A utilisation target set above what the pipeline supports is a request for fewer people, expressed as a performance measure.
The Number Nobody Reached for Two Years
A firm held a ninety-two per cent target through eight quarters in which no team exceeded eighty-four. What the target did while it was not being met.
Reporting It Without a Target
What a utilisation report looks like when nothing has a pass mark: four elements, one page, and a different kind of conversation.