We're very excited to host Mary Jenkins, student of Dr. Deming and co-author, with Tom Coens, of Abolishing Performance Appraisals: Why They Backfire, and What to do Instead, for this month's Ongoing Discussion.  Their book is a delightful analysis of some of the myths surrounding the near-universal organizational practice of performance appraisal. Is there anyone among us who has not received or delivered a performance appraisal at some point in our organizational life? What have you noticed about your own assumptions or deeply-held beliefs?

Mary's premise is that performance appraisal systems in organizations inevitably fail, and sometimes cause serious damage to both the organization and individuals. Why does this practice reliably fail, and why does it simultaneously seem to persist in otherwise progressive clearer-thinking organizations? Why do we think it "works"? From a systems perspective, we might imagine there is a web of interdependent factors contributing to performance appraisal failure and to organizations' continued reliance on it. In her Thought Piece, titled Appraising Appraisal Systems, she invites us to consider reasons for this peculiar behavior. She draws explicitly on the thinking of Dr. Deming and Peter Scholtes, and her late writing partner, Tom Coens.  Many of you will also be reminded of things you've learned over the years from Russ Ackoff, Chris Argyris, Meg Wheatley, Edgar Schein, and Alfie Kohn.

Mary proposes that we have a slightly different focus for each of the 2 days.  The conversation both days will begin with her overview of "unbundling" and the underlying assumptions:

On Thursday, she will then encourage us to focus specifically on motivation and pay, and possibly move into feedback and development if time permits. 

On Friday, she will do the opposite, asking us to focus first on feedback and development and move into motivation and pay, depending on time.

Mary also invites us to consider our responses to the following questions as a way of preparing for the conversations next week:

1.  Study your organization's vision and values.  Is your performance appraisal process congruent with these aspirations and beliefs?  How do you know?

2. As you reviewed the contrasting list of "myths and reality", did anything in particular trigger an epiphany or a concern?

3. Reflect on a time when you received feedback (either positive or constructive) and you chose to listen.  You internalized what was said and it permanently impacted your behavior.  Why did you listen?

4. It was stated that there is a wide chasm between what is known in the social sciences and what is practiced in business.  One area of study where this is particularly true is motivation.  What is your understanding of intrinsic motivation and how it is impacted with the use of extrinsic rewards?

5. Dr. Deming used to say "... the job of management is prediction."  What do you think he meant by that statement and how does it relate to our work on performance appraisals?

As Peter Block would say, "All those interested in creating a future different from the past, please enter.  Everyone else keep doing what you have been doing and try harder."

Mary is co-author of the book, Abolishing Performance Appraisals- Why They Backfire and What to Do Instead.   It has been published in 4 languages, and is referenced frequently in academia and the media, including CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, HR Executive, and Harvard Management Update.   She is also a contributing author to several books focused on emerging practices in human resources.