Don't Accomplish Everything: Why Hitting Half Your Goals Might Mean You're Winning

Published on 23.02.2026

GENERAL

Don't Accomplish Everything

TLDR: Kent Beck recounts his first performance review at Facebook where accomplishing only 3 out of 6 goals earned him an "exceeds expectations." The lesson: in exploratory environments, completing all your goals signals you either learned nothing or sandbagged — and both are worse than embracing surprise.

Don't Accomplish Everything

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