Short showWhen Rewards Backfire
Discover how good intentions pave the road to disaster when performance metrics hijack human behavior. From healthcare to corporate boardrooms, this series explores the hidden economics and psychology behind systems that encourage cheating and corruption. Learn why measuring the wrong things leads to unintended consequences in business and society.
Latest drops:
The Crime Drop That Wasn't Real
A system built for accountability erased reality
Paying to Destroy History
The unintended consequence of counting scraps
The Zigzag Railroad Scam
How a pay-per-mile rule distorted the map
Dead Prisoners Were More Profitable
How a contract loophole created a crisis at sea
The Penalty for Reducing Crime
Why contracts demand full facilities to avoid fees
The Paradox of Unlimited Time Off
The anxiety behind managing your own leave
Breaking Cars to Fix Them
When incentive structures turn experts into scammers
Paid to Burn: The Green Incentive Trap
A simple math error that cost £500 million
The Deadly Cost of Happy Patients
Prioritizing comfort over cure had fatal results
When Transparency Kills
The perverse incentives of surgeon report cards