Misaligned incentives
Etymology
A modern phrase from economics and management, joining "mis-" (wrongly) to "align" (from Latin "ad-," to, plus "linea," line) and "incentive" (Latin "incentivum," that which sets the tune). The imagery is of arrows that fail to point the same direction.
noun phrase · /mis-uh-LYND in-SEN-tivz/
A situation in which the rewards facing a person or group push them toward behavior that conflicts with the goals of another party or of the system.
What it names
The structural root of much dysfunction — the reward points the wrong way — directing blame at design rather than at individual character.
Example
Paying surgeons per procedure creates misaligned incentives: the more they operate, the more they earn, whether or not surgery is best.
Related idea
Broader than a perverse incentive, which actively rewards the opposite of what is wanted; misaligned incentives merely fail to point everyone the same way, and closing that gap is the whole aim of good mechanism design.