“Moving the Goalposts”
Close, but No Cigar
What is Moving the Goalposts?
Changing criteria or definitions to create an unfair advantage or disadvantage.
Business Application
This tactic in customer service, staff management, or client boarding, often comes up as a result of poor establishment of expectations. It is often used to “save face” and is scraped together when the opposing argument is correct. Using this tactic greatly harms the perception of “good will” in a relationship and is the cause of extreme dissatisfaction.
Example
Premise -“I closed secured 30 applications this month! I’m so excited to cash in on that big bonus!”
Moving the Goalpost -Yeah, well, 10 of those applications were with the same client who just needed 10 accounts. You need to have 30 individual clients to qualify.
Counter –“But it’s called the 30 application bonus. No one told me anything about them needing to be single-location.”
BS –Well, I’m telling you now.
Why This is a Fallacy
The manager in this scenario created excuses, altered his reasoning, and amended a benchmark that was not previously outlined in order to evade responsibility.
