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39. Performance Management "Needs Improvement"
Season 8 Episode 30
Everyone knows performance management is broken—but we keep doing it anyway. Why?
For decades, organizations have poured time, money, and emotional energy into performance management—even though almost everyone agrees it’s broken. Annual reviews take hundreds of hours, distort real feedback, collapse development into compensation, and leave both managers and employees frustrated. Worse, they often lower performance rather than improve it. And yet most companies keep doubling down on a system that was never designed for how people actually grow, learn, or work today.
In this episode, Rodney and Sam rethink performance management from the ground up. They unpack why traditional systems fail, which psychological dynamics make feedback so fraught, and what a truly useful approach would look like if we started from scratch. From separating the four conflated “jobs” of performance management and designing for real development, to using AI as a feedback partner rather than a faster paperwork generator—they explore practical ways to build a process that actually helps people get better at their work.
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Mentioned references:
- "performance management makes performance worse"
- ASSCATS ("Anything to Stop, Start, Continue After This Session?"), first discussed in BNW Ep. 65 with Alastair Steward
- "stress-performance curve"
- "Meta performance management with AI"
- "Josh Bersin episode"
- Granola
00:00 Intro + Check-In: Why is Sam still on the podcast when he left The Ready?
03:01 The Pattern: Performance management SUCKS, but we keep doing it
06:10 It’s trying to do too many jobs
07:54 We’re lied to about the purpose
11:19 It’s time consuming
14:10 The charade causes psychological harm and stunts growth
17:00 Rethinking PM from the ground up
18:14 Center the user
20:30 Easier process more frequently
23:15 Vary the size and type of feedback
26:09 Actually define what good ACTUALLY looks like by outcomes
29:21 Feedback in the context of an individual’s journey
32:59 AI’s role in future of performance management
46:02 AI’s role in the performance management of teams
50:30 Wrap up: Leave us a review and share the show with a coworker!
Sound engineering and design by Taylor Marvin of Coupe Studios.
Published on 2 weeks ago