Ever set a goal that had everyone fired up for three days, then by week two the energy vanished and you're awkwardly reminding people about it in meetings? Turns out the very systems designed to motivate high performers are actually killing momentum and creating what Radhika calls "performance theater."
What if everything we've been taught about goal-setting is backwards? In this eye-opening conversation, host Jason Stonehouse sits down with Radhika Dutt, author of Radical Product Thinking and upcoming book "Escaping the Performance Trap," to unpack why traditional goal-setting creates perverse incentives that crush curiosity, collaboration, and real progress.
Radhika reveals how high performers end up gaming the system, why reflection beats optimization, and introduces her OHL framework (how well is it working, what have we learned, what will we try next) that's already transforming teams in over 40 countries. This isn't just theory - she breaks down exactly what leaders can do differently in their next team meeting to move from performance theater to meaningful progress.
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