Targets and how (not) to achieve them
When a metric becomes a target, it ceases to be a good metric. - Goodhart's Law
I recently saw a tweet that reminded me of this famous law.
A social media company made the unsubscribe from notifications very hard by introducing a frustrating UX pattern. It must have been the company's (and some CXO's) target to maximise notification reach.
There's nothing wrong about setting and tracking a metric. In fact, without measuring something, it's hard to improve. However, making that metric a goal, and then focusing efforts to achieve it is not the best way to go about it. In this case, the metric would be a good measure of the notification's usefulness. However, since it became a target, and someone was hellbent on achieving it, the larger purpose got lost.
This got me thinking, We do this in our lives so often. Keeping a weight loss goal, aiming for a promotion and doing projects just to get that. I've seen this play out many times. And more often than not, people(including myself) suffer. The insanity to reach the target takes its toll. Surprisingly, there's little to no long term satisfaction once you get there.
See, metrics are supposed to represent an underlying intent, something really fundamental. They are just there to make sure we're on our way. So, they must be seen within that larger context. However, in all the above scenarios, you'll notice a pattern: Obsessing over a metric, and hyper-focused efforts to get or maintain that. So, what ends up happening is that the metric loses its real purpose. We start looking for shortcuts, hacks or good old deception just for an arbitrary goalpost. We just want to reach there. The journey to get there starts to feel frustrating and long. And once we reach there, the feeling of achievement is kind of underwhelming.
So, what's happening here? Are metrics that bad?
I don't think so. However, obsessing over them is something to watch out for. See, once we make some arbitrary number our target, We start playing a finite game. Finite games, by definition, have a goalpost to reach to. You start focusing on the goalpost and want to get there as soon as possible. You stop noticing the journey itself. Any roadblocks, which otherwise are part of the journey start frustrating you. You forget to see the value in them. Hell, sometimes you forget why are you even on this journey. At their best, finite games can be fun and gratifying for a time. At their worst, they cause a lot of misery for everyone involved and prevent any real long-term progress.
What's the alternative then? Introspect. Be a little creative. What is the single-player infinite sum game that improves the metrics without worrying about it? A game in which small roadblocks are not frustrating, they make the game interesting. All that matters is continuous progress. Rather than measuring how far you're from the target, you see yourself moving ahead, one step at a time. You know, those old-timers were really right. The journey is more important than the destination.
For instance, focus on getting stronger instead of setting a weight goal. Instead of setting a salary target, focus on becoming a better engineer(or whatever you do). The idea is really that simple. Turn everything into an single player infinite game that you can keep playing while having fun. Fall in love with the process, the journey, the path. And the metrics, well, they'll take care of themselves.