Preface

When we got the idea for this book, we expected to surely find dozens of other books with the same theme. After all, it’s common knowledge that every organization struggles with the ritual of performance appraisal, perpetually getting disappointing results. One does not need to consult studies to realize the omnipresent, destructive effects of appraisal. Certainly, in this age of enlightened management, we thought, many others must have condensed appraisal’s hopeless track record and offered genuinely different pathways.

To our surprise, however, we found no other books devoted to abolishing appraisal and exploring fresh approaches to the functions of appraisal. We found hundreds of books on various ways of trying to improve, reform, reinvent, or revitalize appraisal, but they largely failed to address appraisal’s inherent, inescapable flaws or the idea of dropping it altogether. A good number of books heralded the idea of scrapping appraisal and replacing it with something better. Upon closer examination, however, these “solutions” turned out to be nothing more than appraisal with novel packaging. Beneath the new terminology and promise of something truly different, we invariably found yet another “do-everything-for-every-one” prescription, mandating systematic judgment and regimented collection of paper on every employee. We found no books that seriously attempted to unravel widely-held beliefs underlying appraisal and how to create alternatives upon new premises. Consequently, we bravely undertook the daunting task of taking on the business world’s most sacred cow.

We have written this book for all of the stakeholders impacted by the process of appraisal. While we have tried to craft a book helpful to human resources and organizational development professionals, we have sought to write from a broader perspective for the executives, business owners, managers, and supervisors who have struggled with appraisal in the trenches. Toward that end, we have included information, stories, and case studies that are of practical value to people at every level, including employees at the bottom rung who, all along, knew deep down that something was terribly wrong. To make the book friendly to this broader audience, we have deliberately de-emphasized the technical and academic aspects, leaving that for others who, hopefully, will join us on this exciting and adventurous new path.

We do not proclaim to have found “the answer” for the dilemmas of appraisal and how to truly accomplish its many worthwhile goals. We do know, however, alternatives will not make a difference unless they are built from new premises and beliefs. As Einstein astutely observed, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” If, by the close of the book, you understand the critical importance of working from new thinking and assumptions, then we have succeeded in our goal for writing this book.

Tom Coens

Mary Jenkins

August 2000