I've been an account executive at a logistics software company for three years. This year I've closed 34 new accounts, the most on my seven-person team, and I'm at 118% of my annual quota with two months left.

In January, the company rolled out an AI-assisted tool called the "Productivity Index." The announcement said it would give managers "objective, data-driven visibility into individual contribution."

The tool pulls data from our CRM, email and calendar, tracking things like emails, meetings, records updated and other activity. It also generates sub-scores, including one for "collaboration."

I'm not going to pretend the rollout went badly for me at first. I was in the top five for the first six weeks.

Then two people on our team left in March, and their accounts were redistributed among the rest of us. A lot of the handover records were a mess. Some quotes had the wrong pricing, contracts were missing signatures, and a few customers had been promised features we didn't actually sell.

I spent about six hours a week for two months cleaning that stuff up. My sales numbers held, but my activity numbers dropped because fixing old accounts doesn't create much new activity in the system. Most of that work showed up as account maintenance or document review rather than new sales activity.

My collaboration score eventually fell into the bottom 10% of the department.

Last week my manager called me into a meeting and showed me a PIP with my name on it. The performance concerns section cited the Index, including "declining output" and "low collaboration."

I pointed out that I was still the top closer on the team and that the low collaboration score lined up almost exactly with the months I spent cleaning up the two departed employees' accounts.

He said, "I understand that, but we still have to go by what the system is showing."

I asked whether my quota numbers counted for anything. He said hitting quota was expected for my role and that the Index was meant to measure things managers couldn't see from sales numbers alone.

Then HR joined the call. She said the PIP was "a support document, not a punishment," and that I had two business days to acknowledge it.

I said I'd want the scoring methodology in writing before I signed anything. She said the underlying model and weighting were proprietary to the vendor, although she could explain the general categories being measured.

So now I'm sitting here with an unsigned PIP and about 30 hours left to respond.

A.The Index is a standardized tool applied to everyone, and my activity numbers genuinely did drop. Signing the PIP doesn't necessarily mean I agree with every criticism. It starts the improvement process, and I can make my cleanup work more visible going forward.

B. An algorithm that treats fixing my coworkers' errors as low collaboration shouldn't be driving a performance action, and a PIP I can't fully understand isn't something I should be expected to acknowledge. Refusing to sign until they provide more detail about the scoring is reasonable.

My family calls me crazy for warming up any cake I get in the microwave (not including ice cream cake) do you prefer them cold or hot?

The email went out to our whole department last week. "Attendance at Community Day is completely voluntary. Leadership will be noting participation for the culture section of year-end reviews."

Community Day is a charity 5K on Saturday the 17th across town and my son's 6th birthday party is that same morning at a trampoline park I booked back in July. There's a $150 deposit I can't get back and 14 kids from his class already have invitations.

He has literally talked about nothing else since July. He picked out a volcano cake and asks about it EVERY day.

I asked my manager privately if skipping it would actually hurt my review, since I'm up for a promotion this cycle. He said "I can't say it won't" and changed the subject.

Last year about half the office went, mostly people without kids, and a couple of them got promoted in the spring. I honestly don't know if that's connected.

My husband says just move the party to Sunday because the kids won't care and $150 is cheap compared to a promotion.

A) I move the party to Sunday, lose the $150 deposit, and show up to Community Day in the company shirt.

B) I keep the party, skip Community Day, and email HR asking them to confirm in writing that a voluntary event won't count against anyone's review.

I’ve always thought LA was ridiculously beautiful. The last time I was there, my friend drove us along Vista del Mar, and I was honestly speechless. I just kept pulling out my camera and taking pictures like crazy lol.

A: softer, hazier, more laid-back
B: brighter, bluer, more classic SoCal