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I fear that the real picture is actually rather more bleak than that painted by
Repenning and Sterman ("Nobody Ever Gets Credit ..."). In particular, their CLDs in
Figures 1-5 assert that "Time Spent Working" has a positive (+) polarity to "Actual
Performance." In my experience, the real cause-and-effect relationship is more
complex.

I would say that the polarity is positive only within certain limits (on "Time Spent
Working") during a given interval, such as a calendar day. Once those limits are
exceeded, additional "Time Spent Working" will become neutral to "Actual
Performance" (spinning ones wheels). Depending on the nature of the work, the
relationship may even eventually flip to a negative (-) polarity. That is, the workers, if
pushed beyond endurance, may destroy more value than they create.

The authors report something similar (but in a different context) on the top of page
75, in the comment that workers who "run like crazy" may end up "making 20%
garbage."

Mark Wallace
From: "Mark B. Wallace" <mark.wallace@verizon.net>