Is KPI Really an All-Powerful Deity?

I completely understand why enterprises use KPIs. If there were something better, obviously no one would bother with them. However, historically there’s a pattern: whenever a supposedly “advanced” management methodology is imported from abroad, it almost always struggles to adapt to the local environment in China.

Salary and promotions (salary & promotie) are entirely tied to KPIs. And to prevent this whole thing from becoming just a paper exercise, they even hire a dedicated person to supervise it. It’s absolutely detestable. In a single quarter (Q), spending a whole month (M) just to deal with KPIs, leaving me only two months (M) to actually get things done. I’m completely speechless…

Commercial companies chase profits—that is completely understandable, and using KPIs to ensure execution isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But not every cow can produce milk. And even for dairy cows, there’s a limit to how much you can squeeze out of them~

I have always firmly believed that all things in the world require a natural incubation process; a premature baby will not start off with a healthy body. Forcing a premature bloom only leads to a premature decay. It’s as simple as that.