Read on Twitter
Let me tell you a little story.
When I was 16, I got a job at Best Buy. No one in the store was on commission.
But everyone knew the score: their job was to attach high margin accessories and extended warranties to big ticket items with no margins.
Want hours? Sell. https://twitter.com/ezraklein/status/1252696963574755329
When I was 16, I got a job at Best Buy. No one in the store was on commission.
But everyone knew the score: their job was to attach high margin accessories and extended warranties to big ticket items with no margins.
Want hours? Sell. https://twitter.com/ezraklein/status/1252696963574755329
The manager on duty had a scorecard generated by some infernal spreadsheet attached to an internal database.
The scorecard showed which departments were on track, which were behind, and just how far they were in either direction.
It also tracked revenue but it wasn’t discussed.
The scorecard showed which departments were on track, which were behind, and just how far they were in either direction.
It also tracked revenue but it wasn’t discussed.
So every hour or so you’d see the manager and their clipboard and you’d get a stroke to your ego if the numbers were good. If they weren’t, you’d get a pep talk.
While we weren’t on commission, the managers absolutely were. They got performance bonuses and the like.
While we weren’t on commission, the managers absolutely were. They got performance bonuses and the like.
So here’s what started to happen.
If the customer wanted the phone but not the charging cable? Wanted the receiver but not the overpriced gold tipped speaker wires?
We got word that those items were out of stock.
Customers who did want the attachments miraculously found stock.
If the customer wanted the phone but not the charging cable? Wanted the receiver but not the overpriced gold tipped speaker wires?
We got word that those items were out of stock.
Customers who did want the attachments miraculously found stock.
In the long run, of course, this was insanity.
It held down revenue and kept stock in the warehouse, depreciating in value.
The entire purpose of the store, selling you electronics, was subverted by Goodhart’s Law:
Any measure that becomes a target ceases to be a good measure.
It held down revenue and kept stock in the warehouse, depreciating in value.
The entire purpose of the store, selling you electronics, was subverted by Goodhart’s Law:
Any measure that becomes a target ceases to be a good measure.
Eventually the district management figured out what was going on and put to a stop to it.
It was bad for the brand if people started to think Best Buy was unreliable, and started taking their business across the street to Circuit City.
It was bad for the brand if people started to think Best Buy was unreliable, and started taking their business across the street to Circuit City.
All this to say:
Trump, in his incompetent management to the numbers, is such a perfect avatar of inept neoliberal systems.
He wants to avoid the fucking testing we need to save lives because the numbers might make him look bad.
It’s nuts. But you know what?
It’s everywhere.
Trump, in his incompetent management to the numbers, is such a perfect avatar of inept neoliberal systems.
He wants to avoid the fucking testing we need to save lives because the numbers might make him look bad.
It’s nuts. But you know what?
It’s everywhere.
