This reminds me of a guy at the last place I worked. It wasn't bonuses he was on about (though we had that issue come up, too), but performance appraisal. He was always trying to figure out just how much he needed to do to "far exceed expectations", as though by accomplishing just that much (and no more?) each year, he could "far exceed" consistently.

I think he might have been a little unclear on the concept.