Surrogation is a cognitive bias where a measure or proxy (such as a performance metric) replaces the actual construct it is intended to represent. This phenomenon occurs particularly in managerial contexts, where decision-makers may focus solely on the metrics available, forgetting the broader strategic goals they are meant to serve. For example, a manager might prioritize improving a customer satisfaction score without fully engaging with the quality of customer experience itself, leading to a distorted understanding of what they are actually measuring.
A well-known instance of surrogation occurs in businesses where managers, in an effort to boost employee performance, focus on improving specific metrics like sales figures at the expense of overall customer satisfaction, similar to how a school might emphasize standardized test scores over actual learning outcomes.
To mitigate surrogation, organizations should involve managers in the selection of performance measures, encouraging a more holistic approach to strategy rather than merely optimizing for specific metrics. Additionally, providing context and narrative to the data can help reinforce the relationship between the measures and the underlying constructs they represent.