Goals! I just love goals! One of the most famous lines in theater history was written by Shakespeare and, if I recall correctly, is about goals: “The goal’s the thing, with which to accomplish the agenda of the Queen.” Remember? Hamlet was trying to develop a new laundry detergent to remove spots from fine clothing. It was one of the great moments in the performing arts, apparent even to someone like me, who has no training in the history of theater. Whatsoever. (I just know genius when I see it).
In prior episodes, we’ve discussed the difference between outcome goals and process goal and when you should use each. We’ve explored how to set goals to give you the life you want. We’ve explored goals from many angles. But we’ve never reviewed the very basics of how to set goals. So just like we recently reviewed the very basics of how to use a to-do list, today it’s back to basics with goal setting!
Make Goals Specific
Bernice decided that her plant store Green Growing Things needed an updated look. So she called her team together and said, “Our new goal is to revamp the store! Bring me your proposals!” The staff jumped to work and came back with several proposals.
Europa suggested we install barbed wire around the outside, to protect against political dissidents trying to steal plants. Melvin was in favor of installing a server farm, so in the event civilization collapsed, the IT systems would still work. While these ideas have merit (in some alternate universe), they don’t move the team any closer to anything useful. That’s because Bernice’s goal is too vague. “Revamp the store” could mean anything.
Having listened my episode on IS/IS-NOT lists, she quickly realizes her error and makes the goal more specific. It also helps to specify a timeframe. “We’re going to update the store to have a modern look and feel by December 31 of next year.”
Make Your Goals Measurable and Achievable
It’s also important to make goals measurable. Otherwise, you won’t know if you reach them. “Revamp the store” is not measurable. “Have a modern look and feel” is more measurable. “Modern look and feel” isn't perfect because it's subjective, but it could be measured with an informal survey of customers as they walk into the store. Without a way to know the goal has been reached, you run the risk of working forever, even after you’ve reached the goal.
Lots of people make this mistake with life goals, by the way. They set goals like “I want to be rich,” or “I want to succeed,” or “I want to be happy,” but never get specific or measurable, so they don’t know when they’re there.
Also make sure that your goals are under your control, or if you’re a manager, are under your organization’s control. A goal of building a model of Kim Kardashian out of toothpicks is under your control. A goal of getting Kim Kardashian to build a model of you out of toothpicks is not under your control.
Break Your Goal into Subgoals
Now that the team’s goal is to update the store to a modern look and feel, they need to break it into smaller, more achievable subgoals. Subgoals are the smaller goals that are steps along the way to achieving the big goal. A goal that can’t be decomposed into steps is far less likely to be achieved.
You can recognize a subgoal because it generally has a shorter time horizon than the goal it’s part of. In business environments, the organization itself reflects the goals and subgoals. Higher positions have larger, longer-time-frame goals. A Vice President might have a goal of “Improve sales by 20%.” One subgoal might be “Double our telephone sales capacity,” which would be given to a Regional Operations Director as their primary goal.
Europa decides she’ll work on the goal, “Improve staff retention among 20-somethings.”
Melvin chooses “Update the inventory system to use a new, web-integrated ordering system.”
Make Sure You Have Subgoals for Everything
Those are both important subgoals. Both of these update the store to be more modern. But are they enough? Do they add up to the bigger goal? Conspicuously missing is a subgoal related to the appearance of the store.
Bernice jumps on the omission. “I shall take the goal of redesigning the store decor, updating it with a lovely Art Deco look.”
When you break your big goal into subgoals, you need to make sure those subgoals cover every aspect of the larger goal. If your goal is to find a job, and you don’t have a subgoal that involves updating your resume, chances are good that even if all your other subgoals are perfect, you still won’t reach the larger goal.
Make sure that your goals are under your control, or if you’re a manager, are under your organization’s control.
Make Sure Your Subgoals Don’t Overlap
Sometimes subgoals have subsubgoals. And those subsubgoals just might overlap. In that case, make the overlap area a separate goal on its own.
Europa feels very strongly that part of retaining the younger staff is to have cash registers that are fun to look at, with exciting patterns like fuchsia polka dots. Melvin, on the other hand, is planning new point-of-sale cash registers that integrate with a dozen web services and come in only one, exciting color: beige.
Both of them have overlapping subsubgoals to “replace cash registers.” Rather than letting them collide in an explosion of web-enabled fuchsia-and-beige polka dots, take the cash register initiative and give it to Europa’s cybernetic son Thomas as his responsibility. He’s generally good with electronics. He speaks the language. And if anyone can negotiate a middle ground between fuchsia and beige, he’s the teenager to do it.
Now the goals are set, and the team can move forward. The goal is specific—updating the store’s look and feel. It’s measurable and under the team’s control. All the subgoals have been identified, they’re on a time frame that works for the overall goal, and the subgoals don’t overlap. The team is excited, and Bernice is already tickled that a plant store called Green Growing Things would be decorated in fuchsia. Hamlet would be proud!
I’m Stever Robbins. Follow GetItDoneGuy on Twitter and Facebook. Want great keynote speeches on productivity, Living an Extraordinary Life, or entrepreneurship? Hire me! Find me at http://ift.tt/1l2uWN6.
Work Less, Do More, and have a Great Life!
Image of a napkin sketch on goals © Shutterstock
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