I have a slightly different take. I think there's a tendency to attach too much importance to the key results; though I very much agree with your point about t

I have a slightly different take. I think there's a tendency to attach too much importance to the key results; though I very much agree with your point about the law of unintended consequences, this is why the concept of anchoring metrics/KRs comes up a lot. To me, the Objective is what you want, whilst the KRs are just a set of heuristics that tell you if the work you're doing is taking you in that direction. But I see it as a classic "the map is not the territory" thing. Too much emphasis on the KRs (like, as you say, tying bonuses to them) can lead to gaming the system and other failure states.