3) The KPI Trap: Why Crews Get Hooked on Flow KPIs When Big Programs Fizzled

For mine GMs & VPs who’ve seen “transformations” come and go—and want a system people actually love using.-“Make work like golf, and your teams become hooked on improving.”

The real obstacle isn’t capability—it’s willingness

Your people aren’t change-averse. They’re pain-averse.The last big program burned time, trust, and budget. Middle managers carried the scars; frontline crews learned to nod, comply, and wait it out.

Flow wins where those programs stalled because it doesn’t ask people to swim harder in the wrong current. It changes the current—and turns work into a fun game where you can improve on your own performance every day.

Why “golf” beats “compliance”

Nobody has to force golfers to practice. They come back because the game gives them:

• Purpose — a single, visible goal.

• Mastery — immediate feedback and a personal best to beat.

• Autonomy — freedom to choose how to play the next shot.

Flow applies the same three levers to operations.

The Flow Room: work as a game—one fairway, one flag, one score

Purpose: One clear way to win.Ditch the KPI maze. Align on the governing constraint (CM, crusher, stope, plant section). The win condition is simple: protect and lift flow through that point.

Mastery: Watch your score move.The constraint run-rate is visible to everyone, every day. Crews see how yesterday’s actions moved today’s curve. Progress is tangible; improvement becomes addictive.

Autonomy: Let teams play their best shot.A 30-minute, forward-looking huddle asks three questions:

1. What threatened the constraint yesterday?

2. What could starve or block it today?

3. What can we do now to protect tomorrow’s flow?

   
   

   Managers delegate with confidence because the path is clear and the scoreboard is honest.

One Head of Ops described it as a “strange sense of calm… wondering if this is what the role was meant to feel like.”

Why buy-in shows up (and stays)

Traditional meetings retell yesterday’s blame story.Flow Rooms co-author tomorrow’s win story.

• Shared reality: one scoreboard; zero silo spin.

• Positive peer pressure: crews see who unblocks the constraint—recognition shifts from individual heroics to system wins.

• Fewer fights, faster fixes: same time, same people, same drumbeat—psychological safety rises, variability falls.

Result: supervisors stop firefighting and start coaching; planners and maintenance align to the same drumbeat; operations gets early warnings instead of late surprises, the monthly mine plan stabilises.

From skepticism to champions—fast

Don’t sell managers with another deck. Invite them to play one round.

“It’s the best system we’ve seen—work’s more relaxed, we’re working together, and the bonuses improved.”

The strategy logic (so your board nods)

• Where to play: the governing constraint, not every department.

• How to win: Flow KPIs + short learning loops that protect the constraint.

• Capabilities: rapid constraint detection, visible run-rate, disciplined 30-minute ritual.

• Management system: the Flow Room—daily, visual, team-level governance.

This reframes the tired efficiency vs. effectiveness trade-off. Protective capacity at the non constraints isn’t “slack”; it’s the cheapest insurance against volatility and the fastest path to tonnes.

What you will notice by Week 12

• A quieter control room and calmer shift starts.

• Fewer “urgent” meetings; more predictable days.

• Maintenance and planning pull forward issues before they bite.

• Supervisors leave on time—and want tomorrow’s number.

The bottom line

When you give people Purpose, Mastery, Autonomy, they don’t just comply—they compete to improve. That’s why crews get hooked on Flow KPIs while other initiatives fade.

Observed outcomes across implementations:10–40% production uplift, sharp variability reduction, stable flow, improved safety, rebuilt trust—and yes, work becomes enjoyable again.

“Why didn’t we do this sooner? Just do it… or keep getting the same result next year.”