Goldman Sachs was an early adopter of stack ranking. Employees gamed the performance review process, politicking and gaming as annual reviews were to begin --

Goldman Sachs was an early adopter of stack ranking. Employees gamed the performance review process, politicking and gaming as annual reviews were to begin -- if you give me a high rating, I'll give you one (.. or will I), turning the office into a game of Diplomacy. Stack ranking and other human resource strategies created an electric atmosphere of productivity but unfortunately was accompanied by many negatives. Some elements of this story about Uber's culture, excluding hostility towards women, seemed familiar. It wasn't until long past the Financial Crisis that Goldman decided to reform its ways, retiring stack ranking in 2015/2016, adopting a continuous performance review process, and changing other managerial practice. Emulating one leading organization's practices and expecting similar results is a fool's errand. These tech companies are learning that the hard way, I hope.