--- title: "What Performance Appraisal Can Learn from Three Short Stories" description: "This article uses three stories—Tang Seng distributing parachutes, the British government transporting prisoners to Australia, and three mice stealing oil—to illustrate key principles of performance appraisal: setting achievable targets, aligning incentives with desired outcomes, and focusing on performance improvement rather than blame." author: "New Distribution" publisher: "New Distribution" email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com" telephone: "+8615854817671" published: "2014-07-23" language: "en" canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/what-performance-appraisal-can-learn-from-three-short-stories-5b9b6037/" markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/what-performance-appraisal-can-learn-from-three-short-stories-5b9b6037.md" original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Wg4fV5unMdLXauIE6n_dOg" translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E4%BB%8E%E4%B8%89%E4%B8%AA%E5%B0%8F%E6%95%85%E4%BA%8B%E7%9C%8B%E4%BB%80%E4%B9%88%E6%98%AF%E7%BB%A9%E6%95%88%E8%80%83%E6%A0%B8-5b9b6037.md" attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/what-performance-appraisal-can-learn-from-three-short-stories-5b9b6037/" usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt" --- # What Performance Appraisal Can Learn from Three Short Stories > This article uses three stories—Tang Seng distributing parachutes, the British government transporting prisoners to Australia, and three mice stealing oil—to illustrate key principles of performance appraisal: setting achievable targets, aligning incentives with desired outcomes, and focusing on performance improvement rather than blame. **Warm Tip: Click the blue text above “FMCG Distributor Professional Consulting” to learn more about marketing and distributor internal management.** 【Tang Seng Distributes Parachutes】 Once upon a time, Tang Seng's team was traveling by plane. Mid-flight, the plane malfunctioned and they needed to parachute out. Unfortunately, there were only three parachutes for four people. To be fair, Master Tang Seng tested each disciple. Those who passed would get a parachute; those who failed would have to jump without one. Tang Seng asked Sun Wukong, “How many suns are there in the sky?” Wukong answered without hesitation, “One.” The master said, “Good, correct. Here's a parachute.” Then he asked Sha Seng, “How many moons are there in the sky?” Sha Seng replied, “One.” The master said, “Good, also correct. Here's a parachute.” Zhu Bajie thought to himself, “Aha, so simple. I can do that.” He rubbed his hands in anticipation. But when the question came, Bajie jumped. Do you know why? Tang Seng's question was, “How many stars are there in the sky?” Bajie was dumbfounded and jumped straight down. That was the first trip. Some days later, the four disciples and master traveled by plane again. Again, the plane malfunctioned, and again there were only three parachutes. Tang Seng used the same method. He asked Wukong, “In which year was the People's Republic of China founded?” Wukong answered, “October 1, 1949.” The master said, “Good, here's a parachute.” Then he asked Sha Seng, “What is China's population in hundreds of millions?” Sha Seng said 1.3 billion. Tang Seng said, “Good, correct.” Sha Seng got a parachute. When it was Bajie's turn, the master asked, “What are the names of all 1.3 billion people?” Bajie fainted on the spot and ended the trip with another free fall. On the third trip, the plane malfunctioned again. Bajie said, “Master, don't ask. I'll jump.” He jumped. Tang Seng clasped his hands and said, “Amitabha. Little did he know, this time there were four parachutes.” Comment: This story illustrates that performance appraisal targets should be set within employees' capabilities—something they can reach with a little effort. If employees keep jumping but never reach the target, they lose confidence, and the appraisal loses its meaning. Many companies like to impose high targets on employees. The assumption is that if targets aren't high enough, employees won't be motivated. Also, even if employees don't achieve 100% but only 80%, it already exceeds expectations. This logic is roguish and shows managers' incompetence and helplessness. They only know how to pressure employees with high targets, not realizing that the action plan behind the target is what truly helps employees achieve goals, not the target itself. In fact, setting a target that employees can achieve with effort, then helping them develop and execute an action plan, is what managers should do. If distributor bosses do this, they not only help employees grow but also maximize company profits! (2) # 【The Power of Institutions】 In the late 18th century, the British government decided to transport all British convicts to Australia. Some private shipowners contracted to carry these prisoners. The government paid shipowners based on the number of prisoners boarded. Most ships were old cargo ships converted for this purpose, with poor equipment, no medical supplies, and no doctors. To maximize profits, shipowners crammed as many people as possible, making conditions even worse. Once the ship left shore, the shipowners had already received payment per head, so they didn't care whether the prisoners survived the voyage. Some even deliberately cut off water and food to reduce costs. After three years, the government found that the mortality rate of prisoners shipped to Australia was 12%, with the worst ship having 158 deaths out of 424 prisoners—a mortality rate of 37%. The government spent a lot of money but failed to achieve large-scale immigration. The government tried many methods. They sent a government official to supervise each ship, a doctor to handle medical care, and set strict standards for living conditions. But the mortality rate didn't drop; some supervisors and doctors even died mysteriously. It turned out that shipowners bribed officials, and if they didn't cooperate, they were thrown into the sea. So the government spent money on supervision, but people still died. The government then tried a new approach: they gathered shipowners for education and training, urging them to cherish life and understand that developing Australia was for Britain's long-term benefit, and not to value money more than life. But the situation didn't improve; the mortality rate remained high. A British MP believed that private shipowners were exploiting a loophole in the system, and the flaw was that payment was based on the number of prisoners boarded. He proposed changing the system: pay based on the number of prisoners who actually landed in Australia. Regardless of how many boarded in England, payment would be made after counting those who arrived. This change reversed the situation: shipowners proactively hired doctors, stocked medicine, improved living conditions, and did everything to ensure every prisoner arrived healthy, because each person meant income. After implementing this method, the mortality rate quickly dropped to below 1%, and the problem was solved. Comment: This story tells us that the guiding role of performance appraisal is crucial. The performance orientation determines employee behavior. If a company sees appraisal as a punishment tool, employees will avoid mistakes and neglect creativity. Neglecting creativity prevents strategic growth, so company goals won't be achieved. If the orientation is to achieve organizational goals, employees will align with those goals, break them down, understand management's intent, and make feasible plans to support goal achievement. Distributor bosses must deeply understand this and ensure correct orientation and goal alignment in their performance appraisal plans. (3) # 【Mice Stealing Oil】 Three mice went to steal oil together. They found a bottle, but the mouth was too high to reach. After discussion, they decided to form a pyramid: one standing on another's shoulders, taking turns to drink. Just as the last mouse climbed onto the other two's shoulders, for some reason, the bottle tipped over, alarming people, and the three mice ran away. Back in the mouse hole, they held a meeting to discuss why they failed. The first mouse said, “I didn't get to drink, and I knocked over the bottle because I felt the second mouse tremble.” The second mouse said, “I did tremble because the bottom mouse also trembled.” The third mouse said, “Yes, I think I heard a cat's sound, so I trembled.” Then the three mice laughed together: “So it seems none of us is responsible.” Comment: The purpose of performance appraisal is to improve performance, not to assign blame. When performance problems arise, the focus should be on how to improve, not on drawing clear lines of responsibility. It's a habitual mindset to first define responsibility and then discuss improvement strategies. When we spend energy on effectively assigning blame rather than improving, the result is often blaming external factors. Neither the company nor employees are responsible, and the customer is left aside. By the time responsibility is clearly assigned, the customer's patience is exhausted, and customer satisfaction and loyalty disappear. Distributor managers should remember: improving performance is far more important than assigning blame. -------------------------------------- **Like this article? Feel free to share it on your Moments by clicking the top right corner.** About us: WeChat ID: FMCG Distributor Professional Consulting Management Account intro: 20 years of FMCG distributor operation and management experience, specializing in distributor internal management. Click “Read Original” below to enter our micro-community for interaction and questions. Learning and exchange QQ group: 344257092 Reply 1 to enter the micro-official website to view historical messages. ----------------------------------------- --- ## Copyright and AI use This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL. Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671