Goals that work actually take a lot of work to write well. But, with practice using a good methodology leaders and teams can create wonderful goals that create wonderful outcomes.
We are going to explore a basic science of goals to help you set goals that work and know when they don't.
We'll cover:
A goal is an open door to an idea.
When we put a goal over an idea it will bring focus to broad range of options by narrowing an outcome. The goal then becomes the open door a big idea can flow through, stop at or miss.
If we hit the goal and move through the door, we enter a new space, a new level ready for new opportunities.
If we think about goals like an open door, then they become inviting.
Putting a goal in place aligns the energy of the team into alignment.
Goals almost force teamwork. The right goals will encourage a team of people to work together.
Without a clear goal, they will almost certainly not work as a team.
Alignment happens when all of the team know the goals the business needs to achieve, whilst their own goals are aligned to supporting the broader outcomes.
Good goals shift the needle on many metrics.
What is the difference between goals and metrics?
A goal is not a metric, but a good goal should include a metric.
A metric is a measure of something.
A goal is a desired change in that metric.
No.
All metrics are not equal.
To set great goals we must recognise that a metric is an indicator.
It will indicate if a goal is on track or off track.
There are two buckets of indicators.
OKRs are a goal setting methodology.
OKRs stands for Objectives and Key Results.
OKRs are a wonderful goal setting methodology that is purposeful and practicable. They will help you write a good goal.
We recommend and use the OKR goal setting methodology as part of the execution tool-kit in Waymaker.
