This example points out how accomplishments can decline over time due to drifting goals, possibly without much awareness of what is happening.
In this situation a company establishes a revenue goal
at the beginning of the year. This immediately produces a gap
because of the difference between the revenue goal
and the current revenue. Sales
activity during the year produces a level of current revenue
at the end of the year, which just happens to be less than the
revenue goal.
For the next year the company establishes a revenue goal
which is somewhat less than the previous year. When sales
for this year produce current revenue less than
the revenue goal the goal is again reduced for
the next year.
In this manner, over time, the company experiences continually
declining revenue, most likely with little awareness of what is
happening over the long term. Organizations seem to have even
shorter memories than people.