# "Everyone did great this year"

## This week's cartoon

![Cartoon: a grinning manager on a step stool swings a mallet and chisel at the head of a tall employee with glasses and a gold star who rises above a gold bell-curve line. To the left, coworkers already carved stand in rising heights with cracked clothes and chipped stars. To the right, tall coworkers with full stars wait their turn. Manager says, "Everyone did great this year."](../../img/cartoons/the-curve.png)

> _Everyone did great. The curve disagreed._

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### Glossary · *forced distribution*

**Forced distribution** is a review system that fixes the shape of the ratings before anyone gets rated. A set share of people must land at the top, most land in the middle, and a few must land at the bottom. Your score depends on the room as much as on your work.

The tell is warm praise all year followed by a middle rating at the end. Calibration is the meeting where the curve gets applied to real names. Your manager has to defend your spot against peers from other teams with the same limited slots. The person with the clearest written evidence usually keeps the top rating. Send your manager three outcomes with numbers before calibration starts. Ask how many top ratings your team is allowed this cycle. A great year that nobody can defend on paper gets pressed into the middle.