A target becomes dangerous when hitting it matters more than what it was meant to improve.

Every target is a stand-in for something that was actually wanted. Response times stand in for people being helped, attendance stands in for learning, and for a while the stand-in moves with the real thing. Trouble starts when hitting the number becomes the job, because then the shortest route to the number wins even if it damages the thing the number was invented to protect.

Ask what the target was originally a proxy for, and check that separately at least once. Talk to a person the work is meant to serve. If the number is rising and their experience is not, believe the person.