The article actually addresses this directly through Wheeler's distinction between "Voice of the Customer" (arbitrary targets/expectations) and "Voice of the Process" (what's actually achievable). The key insight is that focusing solely on hitting targets without understanding the underlying process capabilities leads to gaming metrics. Amazon's WBR process shows how to do this right - they focus primarily on controllable input metrics rather than output targets, and are willing to revise both metrics and targets based on what the process data reveals is actually possible. The problem isn't having targets - it's failing to reconcile those targets with process reality.