Within Goals vs Actions
When Chasing the Number Starts Hurting the Goal
A target can become counterproductive when people optimize the measured number while neglecting the purpose the metric was meant to serve.
On this page
- How targets narrow attention
- Why people may neglect unmeasured priorities
- Warning signs that a goal metric is taking over
Page outline Jump by section
Introduction
A goal can improve performance by concentrating attention on what matters. The same mechanism can also become a liability: once a number becomes the dominant definition of success, people may optimise the number rather than the purpose it was supposed to represent. Researchers describe related problems as goal fixation, goal displacement and metric gaming. Goodhart’s law captures the basic measurement problem: when a measure becomes a consequential target, the behaviour surrounding that measure changes, potentially making it less informative.[Taylor & Francis Online]tandfonline.comOpen source on tandfonline.com.
For self-improvement, gaming need not mean deliberate cheating. It can be as ordinary as choosing easy books to preserve a reading streak, doing low-value tasks to hit a productivity count, or training in ways that improve a fitness-app statistic while neglecting recovery. The important question is therefore not merely, “Did the number improve?” It is, “Does improving this number still mean that the underlying thing I care about is improving?”
How targets narrow attention
Goals work partly because they are selective. They tell the mind that one result deserves attention and effort. Research on “goal shielding” found that activating a strongly held focal goal can inhibit the accessibility of alternative goals. That can be useful: protecting one priority from distractions helps people persist. But the same selectivity becomes dangerous when the alternatives being screened out are actually important parts of success.[PubMed]pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govForgetting all else: on the antecedents and consequences of goal shielding - PubMed…
This is why metric fixation is not simply a failure of discipline. It can emerge from successful discipline applied too narrowly. A runner intent on a weekly mileage target may continue adding kilometres when recovery would be wiser. Someone measuring productivity by tasks completed may become extremely efficient at clearing trivial tasks. A student targeting hours studied can spend the required time at a desk without checking whether the study method produces durable learning.
The problem becomes particularly clear when performance has several dimensions but the target captures only one. Experimental work has found quantity–quality trade-offs under some goal conditions: in six experiments reported by Janet Bavelas and Eric Lee, higher goals increased the number of responses on several creativity tasks while the average quality of responses moved further from the experimenters’ ideal. That does not establish a universal law that quantity targets reduce quality — other tasks can produce different results — but it illustrates the underlying danger of defining success on one dimension of a multidimensional activity.[ResearchGate]researchgate.netResearchGate(PDF) Effects of goal level on performance: A trade-off of quantity and qualityDecember 1, 1978…
A review of goal setting in the workplace describes the same practical issue: quantity goals can pull attention away from quality, while multiple goals do not automatically solve the problem because people may concentrate on dimensions that are easier to measure.[World of Labour]wol.iza.orgWorld of LabourWorld of Labour - Goal setting and worker motivation…
The paradox is that this attentional narrowing is also one reason goals can work so well. Recent experiments on sustained attention, for example, have found that specific, difficult task goals can reduce behavioural lapses and improve performance.[PubMed]pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPub Med Effects of goal-setting on sustained attention and attention lapsesEffects of goal-setting on sustained attention and attention lapses - PubMedOctober 23, 2023… The sensible conclusion is therefore not that focus is harmful. It is that a goal directs attention towards whatever has been specified, not necessarily towards everything that ultimately matters.
Why unmeasured priorities disappear
Metrics are proxies. Body weight is not health. Words written are not good writing. Books completed are not knowledge. Hours worked are not useful output. Money saved is not financial wellbeing in its entirety. A proxy can be extremely useful while remaining incomplete.
Trouble starts when the distinction between the proxy and its purpose fades. Research on public-sector targets provides unusually visible examples because organisations leave records of how people react to measurement systems. In their study of targets in the English public health-care system, Gwyn Bevan and Christopher Hood examined how performance regimes could produce gaming alongside genuine improvements. Their central warning was essentially that treating one measurable part as if it represented the whole creates predictable opportunities for distortion.[Wiley Online Library]onlinelibrary.wiley.comWiley Online LibraryWHAT’S MEASURED IS WHAT MATTERS: TARGETS AND GAMING IN THE ENGLISH PUBLIC HEALTH CARE SYSTEM - BEVAN - 2006 - Public…
Research on UK public-spending controls likewise describes “creative categorisation”: when administrative numbers carried consequences, actors could change how expenditure was classified in ways that helped satisfy the numerical rules. The underlying spending had not necessarily changed in the way an uninformed observer of the headline measure might assume.[Taylor & Francis Online]tandfonline.comOpen source on tandfonline.com.
This is the deeper meaning of metric gaming. There are at least three ways a target can appear to improve:
- Real improvement: the underlying objective genuinely gets better and the metric records it.
- Proxy optimisation: the measured feature improves, but other important dimensions stagnate or deteriorate.
- Measurement manipulation: the way activity is counted, classified or reported changes, producing a better number without corresponding substantive progress.
Personal goals are usually less formal than institutional performance systems, but the logic transfers readily. Suppose the objective is to read more because you want greater knowledge. “Books finished” is an easy proxy. Once 50 books a year becomes the emotionally important target, however, shorter and easier books become disproportionately attractive. Nothing dishonest has happened. The metric has simply begun influencing the activity it was meant to observe.
The same effect can become almost invisible with daily behaviours. A behaviour goal such as “write 500 words every morning” is more controllable than “publish a successful book”, which is one reason behaviour-based goals are useful. But controllability does not guarantee validity. If 500 words becomes sacrosanct, a writer may resist deleting weak material, researching a difficult point or spending a session restructuring a chapter because those valuable activities do not increase the chosen count.
The lesson is not to abandon behavioural measures. It is to remember their status: the behaviour is valuable because it serves a larger purpose, not because it can be counted.
When a target starts changing the rules of the game
Metric fixation becomes more concerning when the target is difficult and missing it feels consequential. In a well-known series of laboratory studies, Maurice Schweitzer, Lisa Ordóñez and Bambi Douma found that participants with unmet goals were more likely to engage in unethical behaviour than participants instructed simply to do their best. The effect appeared both with and without financial incentives and was particularly pronounced among people who narrowly missed their target.[Academy of Management Journals]journals.aom.orgOpen source on aom.org.
Later reviews have proposed several mechanisms connecting demanding performance goals with unethical behaviour, including reduced attention to moral considerations, moral disengagement, pressure on self-regulation and greater risk-taking. Incentives attached to goal attainment can increase the stakes further.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comScienceDirect Immoral goals: how goal setting may lead to unethical behaviorScienceDirect Immoral goals: how goal setting may lead to unethical behavior
This does not mean that setting an ambitious personal target will ordinarily make someone dishonest. The broader claim that goal setting itself is dangerous has been disputed. In a prominent academic exchange, Ordóñez and colleagues argued that the benefits of specific, challenging goals had received more attention than side effects such as narrowed focus, unethical behaviour and distorted risk-taking.[Academy of Management Journals]journals.aom.orgOpen source on aom.org. Edwin Locke and Gary Latham, major figures in goal-setting research, responded that this critique relied too heavily on selected studies and anecdotes and that many limitations of goal setting were already recognised within the established theory.[Academy of Management Journals]journals.aom.orgOpen source on aom.org.
That dispute matters because the evidence does not justify replacing “specific goals are always good” with “specific goals are always dangerous”. Decades of goal-setting research show substantial performance benefits in appropriate conditions, and even critics of overprescribing goals acknowledge their motivating power.[ResearchGate]researchgate.netOpen source on researchgate.net.
A narrower conclusion is better supported: the more consequential a metric becomes, the more important it is to examine the behaviours it creates around the edges. A target can motivate genuine effort and simultaneously create incentives to neglect, redefine or manipulate aspects of performance that it does not capture.
Warning signs that the metric is taking over
The clearest warning is a growing separation between looking successful according to the measure and becoming successful according to the original purpose. This can happen without conscious deception, so it is useful to examine the incentives built into a personal tracking system rather than relying on good intentions.
Several patterns deserve particular attention:
- You choose activities because they count. The reading target pushes you towards shorter books; the exercise streak makes an easy recorded session more attractive than needed recovery; the task counter rewards splitting trivial work into many items.
- Useful work starts feeling like failure because it is invisible. Planning, reflection, revision, recovery or learning may contribute greatly to the real objective while producing nothing on the dashboard.
- You resist changing the metric after learning something important. A target that was originally a tool becomes a commitment to proving that the original plan was right.
- The threshold creates strange behaviour near the boundary. Reaching 9,900 steps feels meaningfully different from 10,000 even when the underlying health difference is negligible. Thresholds can turn continuous progress into an artificial pass-or-fail judgement.
- Quality declines while quantity rises. More study hours accompany poorer retention; more workouts accompany persistent fatigue; more completed tasks coincide with less important work getting done.
- Definitions become conveniently flexible. What counts as a workout, productive hour, completed task or reading session gradually changes whenever the target is in danger.
- You would behave differently if nobody — including your future self — could see the score. That question helps expose when maintaining a record has displaced the activity the record was meant to support.
These signs are applications of a broader measurement principle rather than proof that every personal metric will be gamed. Studies of institutional measurement show why caution is warranted: once indicators become consequential, people adapt to them, sometimes through classification changes or strategic behaviour that weakens the connection between the score and the underlying objective.[kcl.ac.uk]kclpure.kcl.ac.ukOpen source on kcl.ac.uk.
Keep the number subordinate to the purpose
The practical defence against goal fixation is not to stop measuring progress. It is to design measurement so that no single number quietly acquires authority it does not deserve.
Start by stating what the metric is supposed to represent. “10,000 steps” might represent being consistently active; “500 words” might represent making steady progress on a manuscript; “five study sessions” might represent learning the material. Periodically ask whether the measured behaviour is still serving that purpose. That simple separation between objective and indicator makes gaming easier to notice.
It also helps to keep important counterweights visible. A runner tracking distance might also pay attention to recovery and signs of excessive fatigue. Someone tracking study time can periodically test recall rather than assuming that more hours mean more learning. A writer counting words can evaluate whether the manuscript itself is improving. The point is not to construct an enormous dashboard. Too many simultaneous targets create their own attentional problems. Instead, use a small number of checks that can reveal when improvement in the main metric is being purchased at an unacceptable cost. Research on multidimensional goals suggests that simply adding more metrics is not a complete solution, particularly when some dimensions remain much easier to measure than others.[World of Labour]wol.iza.orgWorld of LabourWorld of Labour - Goal setting and worker motivation…
Finally, treat targets as revisable instruments rather than contracts with your past self. A useful goal should change behaviour in the service of an objective. When behaviour begins changing primarily in the service of preserving the score, the hierarchy has reversed.
That distinction fits naturally within the broader choice between outcome goals and controllable daily behaviours. Daily behaviours are often better levers because they can actually be performed. Yet even a perfectly controllable behaviour can become dysfunctional when its count becomes more important than its function. The strongest self-improvement system therefore does not merely ask whether a behaviour is measurable and controllable. It keeps returning to the more important test: is doing more of this, in the way the metric encourages, still producing the improvement the goal was created to achieve?
Amazon book picks
Further Reading
Books and field guides related to When Chasing the Number Starts Hurting the Goal. Use these as the next step if you want deeper reading beyond the article.
Atomic Habits
Rating: 3.5/5 from 7 Google Books ratings
The #1 New York Times bestseller. Over 25 million copies sold! Translated into 60+ languages! Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results No matter...
Measure What Matters
#1 New York Times Bestseller Legendary venture capitalist John Doerr reveals how the goal-setting system of Objectives and Key Results (O...
The Tyranny of Metrics
How the obsession with quantifying human performance threatens our schools, medical care, businesses, and government Today, organizations...
Weapons of Math Destruction
'A manual for the 21st-century citizen... accessible, refreshingly critical, relevant and urgent' - Financial Times 'Fascinating and deep...
eBay marketplace picks
Marketplace Samples
Live-tested eBay searches with available results related to this page.
Selected frommotivational poster oneBay.co.uk.
Endnotes
1.
Source: rss.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Title: Online Library RSSThere ought to be a law! Campbell versus Goodhart
Link:https://rss.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1740-9713.2018.01205.x
Source snippet
Wiley Online Library RSSThere ought to be a law! Campbell versus Goodhart - Rodamar - 2018 - Significance - Wiley Online Library...
2.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/22390731_Effects_of_goal_level_on_performance_A_trade-off_of_quantity_and_quality
Source snippet
ResearchGate(PDF) Effects of goal level on performance: A trade-off of quantity and qualityDecember 1, 1978...
Published: December 1, 1978
3.
Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Link:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2006.00600.x
Source snippet
Wiley Online LibraryWHAT’S MEASURED IS WHAT MATTERS: TARGETS AND GAMING IN THE ENGLISH PUBLIC HEALTH CARE SYSTEM - BEVAN - 2006 - Public...
4.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Title: ScienceDirect Immoral goals: how goal setting may lead to unethical behavior
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X15001633
5.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11152729Building_a_practically_useful_theory_of_goal_setting_and_task_motivation-_A_35-year_odyssey
6.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733322001317
7.
Source: researchgate.net
Title: (PDF) Governance by indicators and the re-politicisation of expertise
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/400137348_Governance_by_indicators_and_the_re-politicisation_of_expertise
8.
Source: researchgate.net
Title: (PDF) Building Less Flawed Metrics: Dodging Goodhart and Campbell’s Laws
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334478956_Building_Less_Flawed_Metrics_Dodging_Goodhart_and_Campbell%27s_Laws
9.
Source: researchgate.net
Title: (PDF) Campbell’s Law and the Ethics of Immensurability
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286876261_Campbell%27s_Law_and_the_Ethics_of_Immensurability
10.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260015764_The_dark_side_of_consecutive_high_performance_goals_Linking_goal_setting_depletion_and_unethical_behavior
11.
Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Link:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/9781119206422.ch9
12.
Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Title: j.2162 6057.2011.tb01083.x
Link:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2162-6057.2011.tb01083.x
13.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Title: Incentives and targets in hospital care: Evidence from a natural experiment
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272710000034
14.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228138437_Goals_Gone_Wild_The_Systematic_Side_Effects_of_Over-Prescribing_Goal_Setting
15.
Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Title: j.1467 9299.2006.00600.x
Link:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2006.00600.x
16.
Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Title: j.1467 9299.2006.00600.x
Link:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2006.00600.x
17.
Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Title: j.1467 9299.2006.00600.x
Link:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2006.00600.x
18.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298581261_Forgetting_all_else_On_the_antecedents_and_consequences_of_goal_shielding
19.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274694075_The_dark_side_of_goal_setting_The_role_of_goals_in_motivating_unethical_behavior
20.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Title: Indicators of development: The search for a basic needs yardstick
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0305750X79900937
21.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275859410_Goal_Setting_as_a_Motivator_of_Unethical_Behavior
22.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280687748_Goals_Gone_Wild_The_Systematic_Side_Effects_of_Overprescribing_Goal_Setting?_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7InBhZ2UiOiJzY2llbnRpZmljQ29udHJpYnV0aW9ucyIsInByZXZpb3VzUGFnZSI6bnVsbCwic3ViUGFnZSI6bnVsbH19
23.
Source: researchgate.net
Title: 324987923 Goal Setting as a Motivator of Unethical Behavior
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324987923_Goal_Setting_as_a_Motivator_of_Unethical_Behavior
24.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/10974302_Forgetting_All_Else_On_the_Antecedents_and_Consequences_of_Goal_Shielding
25.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232603117_Quality_and_Quantity_Goals_in_a_Complex_Decision_Task_Strategies_and_Outcomes
26.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228371925_Has_Goal_Setting_Gone_Wild_or_Have_Its_Attackers_Abandoned_Good_Scholarship
27.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254734316_Building_a_Practically_Useful_Theory_of_Goal_Setting_and_Task_Motivation_A_35Year_Odyssey
28.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285876087_Science_and_Ethics_What_Should_Count_as_Evidence_Against_the_Use_of_Goal_Setting
29.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247399303_New_Developments_in_and_Directions_for_Goal-Setting_Research
30.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597813000757
31.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0749597813000757
32.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Title: Intelligence and the Frontal Lobe: The Organization of Goal-Directed Behavior
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010028596900080
33.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691899000128
34.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Title: Priming against your will: How accessible alternatives affect goal pursuit
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103102000057
35.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0749597887900458
36.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103111001247
37.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Title: On the limiting properties of social indicators
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0149718979900387
38.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563219300275
39.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S074756322100412X
40.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Title: Critical appraisal of social indicators
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0149718979900417
41.
Source: tandfonline.com
Link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15309576.2020.1749092
42.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12500810/
Source snippet
Forgetting all else: on the antecedents and consequences of goal shielding - PubMed...
43.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/752413/
Source snippet
Effects of goal level on performance: a trade-off of quantity and quality - PubMed...
44.
Source: wol.iza.org
Link:https://wol.iza.org/articles/goal-setting-and-worker-motivation/long
Source snippet
World of LabourWorld of Labour - Goal setting and worker motivation...
45.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Title: Pub Med Effects of goal-setting on sustained attention and [attention lapses]({{ ‘attention-lapses/’ | relative_url }})
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37872435/
Source snippet
Effects of goal-setting on sustained attention and attention lapses - PubMedOctober 23, 2023...
Published: October 23, 2023
46.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40372890/
Source snippet
Setting specific goals improves cognitive effort, self-efficacy, and sustained attention - PubMed...
47.
Source: doi.org
Link:https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1467-9299.2006.00600.x
48.
Source: kclpure.kcl.ac.uk
Link:https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/goodharts-law-and-the-gaming-of-uk-public-spending-numbers/
49.
Source: journals.aom.org
Link:https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/20159591
50.
Source: journals.aom.org
Link:https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amp.2009.37007999
51.
Source: journals.aom.org
Link:https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amp.2009.43479265
52.
Source: journals.aom.org
Link:https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amp.2009.37008000
53.
Source: journals.aom.org
Link:https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amp.2009.43479266
54.
Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6541803/
55.
Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12678593/
56.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41345811/
57.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40566819/
58.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36696172/
59.
Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9909519/
60.
Source: apa.org
Link:https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/attention?tr=MC_4317524
61.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35846670/
62.
Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8493454/
63.
Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7901608/
64.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32437255/
65.
Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7197296/
66.
Source: tandfonline.com
Link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15309576.2020.1749092?journalCode=mpmr20
67.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32331495/
68.
Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8167273/
69.
Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6176065/
70.
Source: dictionary.apa.org
Title: attentional narrowing
Link:https://dictionary.apa.org/attentional-narrowing
71.
Source: doi.org
Link:https://doi.org/10.2307%2F255381
72.
Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3857602/
73.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22905768/
74.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21744940/
75.
Source: journals.aom.org
Link:https://journals.aom.org/toc/amp/23/1
76.
Source: journals.aom.org
Link:https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amp.2009.37007999?rss=1&ssource=mfc
77.
Source: journals.aom.org
Link:https://journals.aom.org/doi/pdf/10.5465/amp.2009.37008000
78.
Source: tandfonline.com
Link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09500790408668312
79.
Source: explore.openaire.eu
Link:https://explore.openaire.eu/search/result?pid=10.1111%2Fj.1467-9299.2006.00600.x
80.
Source: journals.aom.org
Link:https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/apbpp.2002.7517522
81.
Source: journals.aom.org
Link:https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/ambpp.1984.4978779
82.
Source: journals.aom.org
Link:https://journals.aom.org/doi/pdf/10.5465/255381?download=true
83.
Source: periodicos.capes.gov.br
Link:https://www.periodicos.capes.gov.br/index.php/acervo/buscador.html?id=W2169732069&task=detalhes
84.
Source: doi.org
Link:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00286305
85.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18248133/
86.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8660786/
87.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34383546/
88.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7622387/
89.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26102255/
90.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20230067/
91.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8896382/
92.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12237980/
93.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32368761/
Additional References
94.
Source: youtube.com
Title: When the Measure Becomes the Idol | Goodhart’s Law & The Law of Distortion
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WtM_8pXH9U
Source snippet
The Tyranny of Metrics by Jerry Z. Muller: 8 Minute Summary...
95.
Source: nature.com
Link:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-022-01199-0
96.
Source: youtube.com
Title: The Tyranny of Metrics by Jerry Z. Muller: 8 Minute
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bKlGB7F-VA
Source snippet
Why Metrics Fail Decision Making | Goodhart’s Law DecideWell · 3 views...
97.
Source: youtube.com
Title: The KPI Trap: When Metrics Start Managing You
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S23c9EUNQo
Source snippet
When the Measure Becomes the Idol | Goodhart's Law & The Law of Distortion...
98.
Source: youtube.com
Title: The Psychology of Bad Targets | Goodhart’s Law Explained
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs9eP_d9urE
Source snippet
The Unintended Consequences of Measuring Things...
99.
Source: ojp.gov
Title: ASSESSIN G THE IMPACT OF PLANNED SOCIAL CHANGE | Office of Justice Programs
Link:https://ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/assessing-impact-planned-social-change
100.
Source: bdpd-ed93e3.gitlab.io
Link:https://bdpd-ed93e3.gitlab.io/publications/mini_course/_site/lesson_07.html
101.
Source: paretoschool.com
Link:https://www.paretoschool.com/library/campbells-law.html
102.
Source: frontiersin.org
Link:https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.704790/full
103.
Source: apa.org
Link:https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/mot/6220305