I really share your point of view Arthur. And if we speak about exams, it is more of the same.

There is a study in economics that gives a name to this phenomenon, but I am trying to remember it for years, and I cannot. But basically is that, when you put a metric, the priority is the metric but not the intention.

About SMART, I read this article a few weeks ago (you may be interested too):

- https://betterprogramming.pub/stop-doing-smart-goals-do-paced-goals-instead-f1791b392a19

In the case of software, and quality metrics, writing this article helped me to realize what the agile authors meant with "[…] motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need". It is that good professionals will use metrics like cyclomatic complexity to analyze its own code, and improve their craft. So, better to give them the tool to do that. But, because they should be motivated, we should not force them to use those tools.

Thanks Arthur for your contribution.