It’s a Long Shot
This piece is written by my colleague Ayça Tümer Arıkan, a fellow member of the global PuMP team. Her recent post on LinkedIn resonated with so many people, and so I was grateful that she granted me permission to share it with you too!
Have you heard? The NBA introduced an interesting rule change this year.
Until now, long-distance shots taken in the final three seconds of the first three quarters (i.e. end-of-quarter heaves) were counted in the individual shooting statistics of the player who took the shot.
And individual statistics matter.
They can influence the entire career of the players.
If the player misses a shot, their shooting percentage drops.
And over time, an interesting behaviour emerged:
Instead of taking that brave last-second shot for the benefit of the team, players began protecting their own stats by choosing not to take the risky attempt.
Just a few seconds left in the quarter.
A difficult shot.
A chance to create advantage in the game.
But also the anxiety:
“What if I miss?”
“What if my numbers suffer?”
When the NBA noticed this, they changed the rule at the end of 2025:
Those long-distance last-second shots in the first three quarters are no longer recorded in the player’s individual stats; they are now attributed to the team.
And unsurprisingly, behaviour changed immediately.
This is exactly what happens in organizations when KPIs are used to evaluate individual performance.
And it’s nobody’s fault.
It’s simply human psychology.
When KPI targets are used to judge or reward individuals, people stop doing what is best for the organization and start doing what feels safest for themselves.
History [and organizations are] full of similar examples.
To look better, people will:
- measure what is easy,
- target what is guaranteed,
- or even distort the data or the system (I’ve witnessed this firsthand).
Because measurement systems shape behaviour.
Real improvement happens only when measurement is positioned not as a tool for judgement, but as a tool for learning.
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Kathy Letendre, President and Founder of Letendre & Associates, advises organizations and leaders to create their excellence advantage.
Contact Kathy by phone or text at 802-779-4315 or via email.