[roxolotl]

The inability of leaders to understand Goodhart’s Law is always a sight to behold. They see a number go up and pat themselves on the back for how well their employees are making it go up without ever wondering if the thing they care about is happening.

[pmg101]

This is one explanation, sure.

Isn't it more likely that they simply don't in fact care about the "thing they care about", only the metric?

They can plot the metric on a chart and receive praise, so that's what they're interested in.

[roxolotl]

That’s an even worse characterization of them isn’t it? They don’t even care about the end result just the metric. That would take them from clueless to malicious.

[pmg101]

I wouldn't describe it as malice. If your job is to make the line go up, you make the line go up, and are rewarded for doing so, then you have done your job.