Performance management has a tendency to swing with the prevailing concern—from trust and development to accountability and results. But before changing ratings, reviews, or calibration, organizations need to understand what problem they’re actually trying to solve.

When managers struggle with clarity, judgment, or accountability, organizations often respond by adding more process. Sometimes that helps. But sometimes it just makes the system heavier while leaving the real problem untouched. Structure should support good management—not substitute for it.

After years of designing, running, and rebuilding goal-setting systems, I’ve become increasingly convinced that the real challenge isn’t the process. It’s helping people understand what matters, what it means for them, what they own, and how to stay aligned. That’s why I’ve started thinking about goal setting as a sensemaking system.