It seems we are always being asked to complete development plans, setting ourselves stretching GOALS, and Christ on a pink push bike if they are not SMARTer than the average bear.
My view is that these goals rarely amount to anything for anyone, other than Dull Doris, who loves to present her jam packed Hello Kitty file at year end, with all her post-it notes and evidence, usually to defend her Hello Pissy poor results.
If you’re Doris, shame on you! Love everyone else +1 xxx
Left to my own devices, my preferred approach to these development plans is to set the same goals every year, bury them next to Shep in the Blue Peter garden, and dig them up in 12 months time, as a timely reminder to copy them once again.
Think about it, if you have a compelling Why to do something, Why the blazing hell do you need it on coffee stained A4 paper, a 6 terabyte encrypted memory stick, personalised mouse mat and the back of the toilet door at work, to remind you?
So, here is a simple alternative view of how to demystify the countdown conundrum of goal setting.
Several years ago I was fortunate enough to get to spend some time with Dr Steve Bull, who has been the Team GB psychologist at 3 Olympic games, and also worked with the England Cricket team, when they regained the ashes from the Aussies on 2005.
This post is a build around some work he coached about goal setting, allowing Shep to RIP and the work toilet door to remain a sanctuary to the much beloved 10 minute skive.
After the decline of smoking in the workplace, The tactical piss break remains to this day a much underrated and under-used weapon!
Moving on like King Kong in Peter Stringfellow’s thong…
Steve taught that the common mistake people make with goals is lack of clarity on whether they are Outcome Goals, Performance Goals or Process Goals.
Let’s explain what each are…
- Outcome Goal – This the big objective, the aspirational goal. Extra powerful if linked to an internal WHY!
- Performance Goals – These are the specific identified targets you need to achieve to ensure success.
- Process Goals – These are the hundreds of things that need to be done, big and small, that all point towards the top of the mountain.
Steve uses an example of Olympic swimming gold medallist Adrian Moorhouse to explain this in action. Commit to memory 62.1 seconds…
In 1984, 4 years before the Seoul Olympics, Adrian Moorhouse set out to win gold in the 100m breaststroke. Here is the breakdown of his goals…
Adrian deduced using statistics based on previous Olympics times and environment, that he would need to swim 62.1 seconds in 1988 to take Gold. He then embarked on 4 years of intensive training and preparation to achieve his goal.
Here therefore, are the key points when setting any goal…
- Make sure it matters to you not someone else. The challenge with lots of development plans is that they are just a paperwork exercise, where you may cite that you will build your network with the wider team or improve your industry competitor knowledge, then like Groundhog Day you write it again next year. Fight the urge to cobble together a load of utter dog shit, that you think others wanna hear. Make sure it is linked to your Why.
- Make sure that you have clear targets and milestones. Take some time to work out what success actually is. And feel free to review your outcome goal to ensure it is fit for purpose.
- Be prepared to put some hard graft in. Here is the important point… Anyone can give it audacious big licks about what they want to achieve. In work environments it generally starts with…. To be the number 1.…
- Many can get out their abacus and calculate what they need to do to achieve. A personal favourite of mine in a sales environment is.. If every person could do 1 more sale per day we will…. No shit Sherlock… If I could run the 100m five seconds faster, I could leave Usain Bolt choking on his chicken nuggets!
Outcome Goals and Performance Goals are obviously important totems, but it is delivery of Process Goals, aka the Daily Grind that will determine the level you rise up to…
In essence…
- What are you actually wanting to achieve? Does it fit with your internal Why, so you actually care enough to work at to achieve! If not chuck it in the bin?
- Once you have your outcome goal, how clear are you on what the success indicators are? Unlike Olympic gold these may change over time.
- What the all important process goals and how well you stay disciplined?
Finally, always remember, success is like a fart. It only bothers people when it’s not their own!
