The Metrics Masquerade: When KPIs Reward the Wrong Work

What happens when the work that looks best on a dashboard is not the work that matters most? In this episode, Dr Disruptor performs a forensic audit of KPIs, OKRs, engagement metrics, and other corporate scoreboards that turn complicated human work into suspiciously tidy numbers. The Survivor helps listeners spot the warning signs: targets that reward volume over value, metrics that invite gaming, and dashboards that make urgent noise look like meaningful progress. We will translate phrases such as “moving the needle,” “data-driven,” and “success measures” into plain workplace reality, then build a practical metric sanity check. You will learn how to ask what a number excludes, document invisible work, challenge a misleading target without sounding oppositional, and protect your energy when the measurement system becomes the job. Expect satire, usable scripts, and a reminder that failing to hit a foolish metric is not the same as failing at your work. Visit the show site for the printable Metric Sanity Check.