Management Quote by Gerald M. Weinberg
““Or, suppose you want to motivate your managers to ship products on time, so you conspicuously promote each manager whose product goes out the door on schedule. All goes as planned until the situation arises in which one of your managers has a project where the testers are reporting numerous problems. Because managers who have shipped products on time have been promoted, this manager thinks, I want that promotion so I need to ship this on time, but those bug reports are getting in the way. I know what I'll do! I'll put the testers on another project until the developers have a chance to catch up.””
About This Quote
Rewarding punctuality can create perverse incentives, causing managers to sideline quality work to meet deadlines.
In simple terms: Incentives may push managers to ignore problems to get promotions.
Key Takeaway
Align incentives with quality, not just speed.
Themes
management
incentives
quality
productivity
Mood
cautious
analytical
Type
advice
warning
When to use this quote
- project planning
- performance reviews
- team dynamics
Key Concepts
behavioral economics
organizational psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you reward both timeliness and quality?
- What safeguards prevent shortcutting?
A Different Perspective
May demotivate staff who value quality over speed.
![“The only regret I have in my career, is my managers wanted a big payday, and I wanted four or five more fights before going in with [Larry] Holmes. That would have made all the difference.” quote by Gerry Cooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d63/gerry-cooney-20863_bigs_the-only-regret-i-have-in-my-career-is-m_1534.jpg)
