I firmly believe and advocate that in order to achieve our goals, both in personal and professional life, we need to learn how to set objectives. I know what I’m saying might seem simple, but many people think that setting a goal is just writing down what they want to achieve on paper and that’s it, without realizing it’s actually a more complex process.
For example, in the workplace, when we set a goal for the team to be achieved within a certain timeframe, we need to identify and map out the paths we’ll use to achieve it. And for that, we have to assess the level of difficulty and whether we—along with the team—have the necessary tools to put theory into practice.
However, the problem for me arises precisely when we achieve goals too easily or quickly. You might be wondering: isn’t that a positive thing? Not always. In some cases, it may reflect the team’s effort to reach the expected result, but in others, achieving the goal so swiftly could mean it was a lazy goal relative to the team’s potential.
A goal I consider lazy is one where we’re practically 90% certain we’ll achieve it, no matter the path or tools, but we insist on defining it just so we can check it off at the end of the year and say it’s done. This behavior should no longer be adopted by companies because it conveys a false impression of a challenge being met—when, in reality, there was no challenge at all.
The importance of having clear and ambitious goals is not a new topic. From 1979 to 1989, Harvard University asked its graduates: Have you set clear, written goals for your future? Have you established plans to achieve them? Only 3% of graduates had clearly defined, written goals with action plans; 13% had goals but not written down, nor did they have action plans. The other 84% had no specific goals beyond finishing the academic year and enjoying the summer.
Ten years later, in 1989, researchers interviewed the same people again. They found that the 3% who had clearly defined, written goals and plans were earning, on average, ten times more than the other 97% combined! This just goes to show the importance of what I’m saying—that ambitious goals can indeed make a difference in the results we hope to achieve.
This concept is embedded in a management approach that adopts OKRs—Objectives and Key Results—because it helps avoid what I consider lazy goals and enforce more ambitious ones. Of course, I’m not saying to set impossible targets, but when we raise the bar, we start exploring different skills.
OKRs will greatly assist in this process, as working with shorter cycles—usually three months—makes it possible to identify potential errors in the execution strategy. This way, it’s feasible to recalibrate the plan while always keeping in mind working toward results, with focus and clarity, to meet the goal within the predefined timeframe.
As Steven Kotler says, some goals are impossible, but others are impossible until someone achieves them. Focus on those!
Are your goals ambitious or lazy?
