Well, let's apply it to tech. I know lots of people getting praised for their work and others not, but they didn't get to choose their work, it was assigned. So

Well, let's apply it to tech. I know lots of people getting praised for their work and others not, but they didn't get to choose their work, it was assigned. So, some got sexy/glamorous tasks, some got maintenance tasks, some ran into very hard to diagnose existing bugs that took weeks to solve while others didn't so their velocity looks higher. Others got assigned tasks that appeared simple but had rippling effects that made the task 10x larger than it appear. this meant it looked like they accomplished less since the only thing they're being judged on is did they finish this original task that was perceived as simple. And then, managers give praise or encouragement to do better, all based on those issues. Note: I'm not saying some employees don't have more skills than others, only that the things out of an employee's control seem similar to the Deming red bead experiment.