This article addresses the persistent use of annual individual performance reviews despite substantial evidence of their ineffectiveness. The authors — both academics from New Zealand universities — argue that conventional performance appraisal and KPI systems are institutionally entrenched rather than genuinely effective, creating a significant disconnect between how leaders and employees perceive their utility. Key evidence includes a 2024 Betterworks survey finding that 44% of employees viewed performance management as a 'significant failure' and that employees were 57% less likely than leaders to believe it was working well, alongside a 2025 Cornell University analysis identifying institutional embeddedness and the illusion of objectivity as primary reasons outdated systems persist. The authors further draw on the well-established social science principle that when a metric becomes a target, it loses its validity as a measure. The article concludes that modern high-performance management approaches — emphasising continuous feedback, adaptable short-term objectives, and multi-source input — better reflect contemporary work realities, and that organisations should critically evaluate whether their performance metrics drive actual improvement or merely manufacture quantitative data. Key insights: A fundamental tension exists between using performance systems for pay/promotion decisions versus learning and development, and collapsing both into a single annual process undermines both objectives. Cornell University's 2025 analysis suggests traditional performance systems persist not because they are effective but because they are institutionally embedded, perceived as objective, and costly to overhaul — with only one in five employees motivated by current systems. The Goodhart's Law dynamic — where a metric becomes a target and ceases to be a good measure — is identified as a core failure mechanism in KPI-heavy systems, encouraging gaming, shortcuts, and misaligned behaviours rather than genuine improvement. Practical takeaways: Organisations separating pay/promotion decisions from learning and development conversations may reduce the inherent tension that undermines both processes in combined annual reviews. Continuous, real-time feedback mechanisms and short-term adaptable objectives are presented in the literature as more aligned with how work actually occurs, particularly where human contributions involve creativity and problem-solving rather than routine measurable tasks.