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goodharts law

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    Incentive Design Entry #0377

    The reason a bonus for lines of code produces long code

    Measure what you want and you will get exactly that — the metric, not the quality the metric was supposed to represent.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0377

    Reward defines the output. The metric does not fail because people cheat; it fails because people succeed at optimising exactly what was measured.

    Open file
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    Platform Mechanics Entry #0283

    The reason a metric becomes a target and then a lie

    Any measure good enough to manage by is good enough to game, and the gaming arrives through exactly the same channel as the improvement.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0283

    A measure used as a target stops describing the thing it was chosen to describe.

    Open file
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    Achievement Architecture Entry #0714

    The reason a levelled title makes people hide their real skill

    A levelled title encourages users to conceal true ability because revealing superior skill would raise expectations and risk the status the current level provides.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0714

    A levelled title rewards performance until it punishes it. The agent who reveals too much skill earns a harder life at the next tier.

    Open file
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    Competition Design Entry #0665

    Why public rankings breed behaviour nobody rewards directly

    A visible ranking creates incentives the designer never intended, because participants optimise for the metric that determines their position, not the goal behind it.

    Master
    The hidden part #0665

    A ranking rewards the metric, and the metric attracts behaviours the designer never intended — which the metric then counts as success.

    Open file
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    Competition Design Entry #0660

    The reason ranking raises output and lowers honesty

    A public ranking increases output but also the temptation to game, misreport, or cut corners, because the rank rewards the number, not the process.

    Master
    The hidden part #0660

    A ranking rewards the number, not the reality. When the two diverge, the number wins — and the reality is hidden by the improvement.

    Open file