“But the worst part of my little bonus system,” Reggie confided, “was not that my managers were manipulating the numbers, but I think it really changed their mindset. I corrupted their thinking and digging out of that hole is going to take time. And some of them will not survive.
“And the winner, the successful candidate who gets the position as the new division VP is going to think he got the job by gaming the system. It doesn’t matter how I explain it, in his heart, his experience will tell him that he got the job by playing with the numbers.
“It is really true,” Reggie continued, “the behavior you reinforce, is the behavior you get. I created the incentive. I got the behavior.”
“If you are going to create a different environment, what has to change first?” I asked.
“All crumbs lead to the top,” Reggie said. “I have to change first.”