Creating change requires three core components. You need a mission (Why), a goal (What) and a plan (How). These three components are often confused with each other, and it’s not uncommon (in Business and in Life) for people to mistake their plan for their goal.
Each of these components deserve a breakdown of their own, but in this piece we will focus on the Goal, the What. Setting good goals in a business setting is a superpower. Great goals align teams, they make communication easier and more consistent, and they can inspire and encourage teams.
At a high level,
the mission is a vivid picture that you can paint about what success will feel like. It aligns teams around where we want to be. It keeps us pushing forward even when we hit adversity.
the plan is the steps we will take to accomplish the mission. It’s our estimation of what needs to be done in order to succeed.
the goal is how we will measure the effectiveness of the plan. It’s the source of truth on how much progress we have made, and helps us identify if our plan was the right one.
Here are the core attributes of a great goal:
deeply aligned with the mission
measurable
responsive
non-boolean outcomes
path independant
results oriented, not action oriented
Building good goals is not easy, so let’s dive into each of these in turn.
Deeply Aligned
You want your goal to be aligned with the thing you care about (your mission), and that can be very, very hard to figure out. Remember that you will manage what you measure, so choosing something that is deeply aligned with your objectives is so important
Let’s say that you want to get stronger and more fit this year. That’s your mission.
Bad Goal
Lose 20 pounds. Is that really aligned with your goal? Could you lose 20 pounds but end up less fit (say by extreme dieting - leading to low energy and muscle loss)? Could you get more fit, but not lose any weight (say by putting on a bunch of muscle)?
Better Goal
Run a mile in under 8 minutes. These may not be fully comprehensive measurements of fitness, but it’s very hard to say that if you are able to go from running a mile in 10 minutes to running one in 8 minutes that you are less fit. Fitness is really about being able to perform tasks that you were not able to before.
Measurable
You want to actually understand if you are getting closer to your goals. While vague and unmeasurable concepts can still be emotionally powerful motivators, you need to be able to tell whether or not you are reaching your goal.
Bad Goal
Be happier. What does that really mean to you? How will you know if you feel happier in 6 months than today?
Better Goal
Have twice as many good days as bad days, per tracking in my Mood Tracking App. Sure this is subjective and soft, but it’s also a way that you can figure out whether the plan you are following is working.
Responsive
A good goal is one that you can see some results towards in a relatively short time period. Great goals provide you with the information you need to review your plans and switch approaches if the current plan isn’t working.
Bad goal
Win the 100m dash in the Olympics. While it’s a powerful and emotional picture to paint in your head, you will only know if it worked at the very end of all your work. If your training isn’t effective, how will you discover this and change approaches?
Better Goal
Consistently finish 100m in under 9.8 seconds. While obviously you want to go as fast as possible (and equally obvious you can’t predict what other competitor’s times will be) 9.8 seconds would be fast enough to win gold in many Olympics and medal in all but one. And importantly, you can measure this speed regularly to see if your training is helping you.
Non-boolean
A boolean variable is pass-fail, it only contains within it 2 states. You succeeded or you failed.
Bad Example
Make the soccer team. There are only two states and frankly if you don’t make the team you will rarely get good data around how close you got. Similarly if you do make the team you will rarely discover by how much.
Better Goal
Juggle the ball 50 times in a row. Is this going to get you on the team all by itself? Probably not, you will probably want to set a few goals around fitness and other skills - but your ability to be good with the ball at your feet is going to be correlated with your ability to make it on the team. Focus on measuring things that you can actually see progress in.
Path Independent
Your goals should permit you to try to reach them in multiple ways. If your goal locks you into a single possible plan, then if it’s not working you won’t have the ability to pivot to something else.
Bad Goal
Run 50 miles a month. While this is measurable and non-boolean, if our mission is around preparing for a marathon what if we struggle to cover 50 miles a month each month? We have limited time to exercise, and covering 50 miles will devour basically all of it - leaving us with no time to try other fitness approaches.
Better Goal
Do 10 pull-ups in a row. While you can do pull-ups as a workout, you don’t have to. You can do exercises with dumbells, kettle bells, body weight. You can build muscle to get stronger, you can also make the pull-ups easier by getting lighter and trying to drop some pounds through healthier eating. If one approach isn’t working, you can try another one.
Results-oriented
Often described as “outcomes over outputs” you should be focusing on your results, not on your actions. Your goal should not be what you do (or ship) but on the intended result of those actions.
Bad Goal
Go to the gym three times a week. This is a plan, not a goal. Getting to the gym does not mean that you are spending your time there effectively.
Better Goal
Reduce my body fat percentage by 3%. Perhaps our mission here is to try to look good for our upcoming beach vacation - going to the gym can certainly be part of that plan, but what we are really want is to have a bit more definition in our muscles and feel proud of our physique.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes the first step to getting a good goal is figuring out how to start measuring. Some measurements will require you to start from scratch and do some work; for example you might need to download an app to track your mood daily, or you might need to a gym which can measure your body fat. You don’t have to be limited to what you already have data for.
Set a schedule for when and how you will measure your progress. Sometimes it can can to have a little ritual around the reviews to help you review regularly.
Goals can be wrong - it’s OK to re-evaluate whether or not a goal is actually meeting the above criteria (especially “deeply aligned”) and decide to change your goals. If you are achieving the goal, but don’t feel like you are actually making the change you hoped for, then think up a better goal that is better aligned. Goals are a tool, and we should use them appropriately.