Goodhart's Law and the Future of Work: Why Your Incentives Are About to Get Tested [034T]

Goodhart'sLaw and the Future of Work: Why Your Incentives Are About to Get Tested [34T]

In 1975, economist Charles Goodhart observed something every CEO should tattoo on theirforearm:

"When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."

In our work together, Rita McGrath and I frequently discuss a truth that seems as obvious as rain, but leadersforget it constantly: people do what you incentivize them to do. Not what you hope they do. Not what your values statement says they should do. What you pay them and promote them to do.

We are about to redesign how work gets done from the ground up. AI is forcing it. And the first instinct wehave is to build new dashboards, new KPIs, new ways to measure everything in real time.

Before you do that, stop and ask yourself: how many of the behaviors you hate inside your company right noware being driven by the incentive systems you built?

Your sales team churning clients to hit quota.

Your executives cutting the investments that create long-term value to make a quarterly number.

Your best people leaving because the system rewards compliance over contribution.

This is the moment to rebuild incentives around purpose, not just productivity. If you get the measurementwrong at the start, AI will just help your people game the system faster.

The opportunity is not more metrics. It is better to ask questions about what matters.

Be well,

Ron

(c) 2026 Ron Boire

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