Deming Red Beads
Why Performance Rankings Hurt Teams: Evidence from the Red Bead Experiment
In today’s competitive business environment, organizations often turn to performance rankings, stack rankings, or forced distribution methods to drive higher output from their teams. These controversial HR practices rate employees against each other, rewarding the “top performers” and penalizing or even terminating those who fall at the bottom. On the surface, this may appear to be a fair and merit-based approach. However, Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s Red Bead Experiment provides compelling evidence that these practices are deeply flawed and can actually harm organizational performance.