Design from scratch: center the user

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.