Welcome to the 716 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 32,004 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week. Share this on Twitter to help grow the tribe!Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Tegus!Tegus has been a complete game changer for my research and learning process. Tegus is the leading platform for primary research—it offers a searchable database of thousands of instantly-available, investor-led interviews with experts on a wide range of industries, companies, and topics. It’s fast and cost-effective, enabling you to do great primary research without breaking the bank.Special Offer: Tegus is offering a free 2-week trial to all Curiosity Chronicle subscribers—sign up below to level up your research game today!Today at a Glance:Incentives are everything—an uber-powerful force governing our interactions, organizations, and society.Unfortunately, humans are astonishingly bad at establishing incentives—we consistently create systems that invite manipulation and unintended consequences.The framework for better incentives involves six key pillars: Objectives, Metrics, Anti-Metrics, Stakes & Effects, Skin in the Game, and Clarity & Fluidity.Incentives: The Failure & The Fix“Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.” — Charlie MungerIncentives are everything—an uber-powerful force governing our interactions, organizations, and society.Well-designed incentives have the power to create great outcomes; poorly-designed incentives have the power to…well…create terrible outcomes.Unfortunately, humans are astonishingly bad at establishing incentives—we consistently create systems that invite manipulation and unintended consequences. More often than not, we wind up in the poorly-designed camp scrambling for answers and quick fixes.Let’s change that…In today’s piece, I will share a framework for establishing incentives (that actually create desired outcomes).Incentives: The FailureLet’s start with a basic definition of incentives:Incentives are anything that motivates, inspires, or drives an individual to act in a specific manner. They come in two forms: intrinsic and extrinsic.Intrinsic incentives are internal—created by self-interest or desire. Extrinsic incentives are external—created by outside factors, typically a reward (positive incentive) or punishment (negative incentive).For today, we'll be focusing on extrinsic incentives…In a (very) simple model, extrinsic incentives involve two key components:Measure: The metric that the individual or group will be judged upon. The measure can be quantitative (KPIs, metrics, etc.) or qualitative.Target: The level of the measure at which a reward or punishment will be initiated. The target can be specific (you receive your incentive if the KPI hits X level) or general (you receive your incentive if your manager is satisfied with your work).But there is a real problem here. This simple model of incentives—which will feel familiar if you have ever worked in the government, a large organization, or anywhere really—often leads to undesirable outcomes and unintended consequences.Goodhart’s LawGoodhart’s Law is quite simple: When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. If a measure of performance becomes a stated goal, humans tend to optimize for it, regardless of any associated consequences. The measure loses its value as a measure!Goodhart’s Law is named after British economist Charles Goodhart, who referenced the concept in a 1975 article on British monetary policy.“Any observed statistical regularity will tend to collapse once pressure is placed upon it for control purposes.” — Charles GoodhartBut the concept was popularized by anthropologist Marilyn Strathern. In a 1997 paper, she generalized the thinking and called it Goodhart’s Law.“When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” — Marilyn StrathernIt became a mental model with considerable practical relevance—