Measuring and Rewarding at the Magic Factory

When he reached the factory, he did not go directly to his office. Instead, he flew up, up, up above the factory and hovered there. He looked down at the car park, full of shiny new cars. Never in all the years he'd worked in the factory had he ever seen the staff so happy. He had been particularly pleased with how, after many years seemingly at war with each other, the tester and developer wizard teams had started working together. Recently, he'd even noticed the tester wizards and the developer wizards having lunch together!

They had started collaborating shortly after the defect numbers dipped. He felt proud when he'd noticed that. They must have felt bad about the drop in quality. Working harder to find defects wasn't enough, so they collaborated. And it worked! As if by magic, the defect numbers went up.

He imagined them, his magical staff, eating their lunch and pondering how, if they just worked together, they could find more defects and fix them. That must be what they were talking about. That and football. And magic., of course. Wizards always talked about magic. You couldn't stop wizards talking about magic.

But, he felt sad. If things didn't pick up, he would have to close the factory, and all the wizards who worked there would lose their jobs. They might have to sell those shiny new cars.

The CMO never figured out what the wizards were talking about. Eventually, they even stopped talking about magic. Instead, they talked about cars instead and how to ensure they could afford to keep up with their monthly car payments.

And, if you were to find that golden key and enter that secret chamber, and ask that old, magic, crystal ball what it all means, a shrill but wise voice would respond, “You get what you measure and reward. Be very careful what you measure and reward.”

This is based on a true story.