Sometimes, the measures managers use to guide their decisions stop making sense. Take television ratings—the metric by which TV shows live or die in an advertising-supported industry. The New York Times reports that, given today’s “time-shifted” viewing habits, the prevailing method of gauging audience size distorts the truth by counting only three days of viewing. Scripted shows like Modern Family, more likely to be recorded and watched later with full attention, come out looking less popular than reality shows which are almost wholly consumed on their air date. Nonetheless, “the overnights still set the tone and agenda,” according to an ABC executive. Here’s the upshot of that: because TV executives are encouraged to manage to that measure, they achieve better performance on paper but worse—wait for it—in reality.