Please don't set me a goal..
Use goals if they work for you and your team. Just don’t do it blindly. No-one is forcing you to set goals. They are not a requirement or a formula for guaranteed success.
When I look at the future, there are two things I don’t do. I don’t make predictions and I don’t set goals. The second is a personal thing, goals actively demotivate me.
Targets, goals and ambitions are a popular activity at this time of year. So perhaps its interesting to think about why these things are not for me.
Notes:
I can change the future by making better decisions and different choices.
Its more powerful for me to think about the options than to fix the outcomes in my head.
I am fairly useless at predicting the future. I think I have this in common with pretty much everyone on the planet.
Goals are inherently predictions of the future. The formula is “If I do this I will achieve X.”
Goals are static. You make a set of assumptions and choices and you set a number. Perhaps as long as a year or even five years into the future. You will have better information tomorrow, never mind in six months’ time.
Life and business are not that simple. We live in a dynamic, complex, organic system. Achieving what you want is a constant process of choosing and doing. In response to a continuous and ever-changing stream of new information and changed circumstances.
For me, its more interesting to think about the “if” part of the formula. Why might that choice lead to that achievement? What assumptions am I making about the future effect of decisions I am making today? What might happen that would derail that future path?
If I understand those choices, then I can learn. I can make a choice and see whether the real world is lining up with my expectations. If its not, I can change course. Or at least bank the lessons and do better next time.
Goals beget metrics. Big ambitions easily fall prey to the McNamara fallacy. You measure what can be measured. The lure of a target means you ignore all the things that are too hard to measure. Pretty soon it becomes about gaming the numbers not delivering the best outcome.
Goals are limits. They may be very ambitious but they are still limits. The mindset is “I succeed if I achieve X level.” That could be revenue, customer numbers, valuation or myriad other things.
In business there are no limits. Apple recently passed $3 trillion in market cap (again!) Do you think Tim Cook is sitting back saying “That’s enough. Job done.” What if you could do even better? What happens if you achieve your target ahead of schedule? Will you stop trying?
Like I say, its also personal. If I set a number then I get up in the morning feeling as if I am working for the number, not for myself. That doesn’t do it for me.
I know that goals or targets are motivating for lots of people. So by all means use goals if they work for you and your team. Just don’t do it blindly. No-one is forcing you to set goals. They are not a requirement or a formula for guaranteed success.
If you do use them, at least be aware of the downsides. And watch out for weird people in your team like me that are not motivated by those goals (or performance metrics, OKRs, North Star metrics or whatever jargon you want to use).
Merry Christmas and a Guid New Year.
Reading:
How to lose a library by Carolyn Dever. How did I miss this? Massive cyber attack has paralysed one of our greatest cultural institutions since Halloween.
How broken Britain might reconverge: Notes from the Economy 2030 enquiry by Adam Tooze. Some highlights from a recent report by the Resolution Foundation. Clear evidence that the UK is structurally underperforming. Not sure this has convincing solutions, but interesting reading at least.
7 ways the internet will get weirder by Rex Woodbury. Terrible title and mostly thin content (sorry Rex - I like your stuff but this is not my favourite). There is a golden nugget at the end. The ideas under the heading “Cambrian explosion in entrepreneurship” are well worth thinking about.
Will AI accelerate vertical SaaS adoption? By Christoph Janz. This post made me think. There are still huge opportunities in B2B SaaS simply because adoption is so slow. Could AI accelerate adoption? If so, that would be more fuel in the tech recovery.
AI and Everything Else by Benedict Evans. Always a great overview of the technology landscape in clear, accessible form. My favourite from this year: Generative AI is “Good at things computers are bad at.”