It might pay for the people on that project, but I think the point was that this ends up being worse for the organization. Because of the incentives at the indi

It might pay for the people on that project, but I think the point was that this ends up being worse for the organization. Because of the incentives at the individual level, as you pointed out, I agree that it's not realistic to expect project leads to be more pragmatic. I do, however, think organizations should be making more of an effort to realign incentives so that what's best for the project is also best for the organization. Unfortunately, solutions like the "within 10% or you're fired" model create enough pressure that people evidently just find ways to cheat the system because their greatest concern is now keeping their jobs.