Organizational Targets—Enough Is Enough

Deming warned us about them, so what’s the problem?

Long ago, W. Edwards Deming warned us about the use of what he called “arbitrary numerical goals.” Targets are another name for these. They are so commonplace that governments, service, and manufacturing organizations all use them. Targets have become accepted in all organizations, but this habitual use conceals the harm they actually do.

If you are an executive, middle manager, or worker, odds are you have targets to hit. Many times these have to do with sales, budget (financial), output, or anything else that can be dreamed up. Targets seem to make sense because they give all involved clarity over things that they can “control.” Additionally, targets provide feedback and achievement: If I hit or exceed the number, I have done well (maybe even get a reward), and if I don’t hit the number, I get paid attention to by someone above me. This is true no matter what level you have achieved in an organization.

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Targets 2

Funniest thing in the line of targets, is a local church: the Sydney Anglican Diocese, to name it, decided to have a target a few years back: It was called 'connect09' (ahha, a sloganistic name: first warning of unsystematic thinking being done), and sought to have 10% of the population of Sydney in church; of course it failed. Partly, I suppose is that no one asked the question as to what motivated church membership, or dis-membership, and what would correct the factors at work, it was just 'more of the same'; but it was the 'same' that was leading nowhere!