Why Goal Setting Doesn’t Work Anymore – And What To Do About It

Why Goal Setting Doesn’t Work Anymore – And What To Do About It

Gihan Perera (pictured below) is a business futurist and speaker who works with business leaders to help them lead and succeed in an uncertain times. He’s also the author of “Disruption By Design: Leading the change in a fast-changing world”. In his latest post for B&T, Perera offers his top tips from turning “idea” into achievable action…

Have you ever set a “SMART” goal? That’s been the gold standard for goal setting, but it doesn’t even come close to helping you achieve a goal. Even a drunken New Year’s Resolution – say, that you’ll finally lose that 10 kilograms of excess weight this year – could be a SMART goal: It’s specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based. But as we all know with New Year’s Resolutions, most of them don’t survive to the end of January!

Gihan Perera 1

Goal setting is easy – ridiculously easy. The real problem is with goal getting. In our fast-changing world, the future is unclear, the changing environment constantly throws out new obstacles, and the goalposts keep changing along the way. That’s why we need new rules now for achieving our goals.

Make it a project, not a goal

A project is a small, clearly-defined job. Like a goal, it has an outcome, but it also has a clear plan attached to it. Sending a man to the Moon was a goal; each space flight during that time was a project. Even if you’re not taking moon-shots, work on 90-day projects rather than 12-month goals. That’s long enough to do something significant, but short enough to know the world won’t change too much around you.

Test it fast

Don’t spend the first three weeks planning, strategising, and optimising your goal. As soon as possible, test it! Approach a few customers, build a prototype, try out a “beta” version of the idea, publish a few pages of your book as a blog post, start the new eating plan immediately, and so on.Your project only runs for 12 weeks, and you can’t afford to wait until week 10 to discover you’re on the wrong track. Test it, assess the results, tweak your approach, and try again.

Take a leaf from Google’s book. Gmail was in “beta release” (that is, not officially a product) for five years before Google officially ended its beta status in 2009. By that time, it already had hundreds of millions of active users, who had the benefit of using Gmail, but also provided invaluable feedback to Google.

Make a plan

With only 12 weeks, you don’t need complex project planning software to plan and run the project. Map out the entire project – week by week – on a big sheet of paper, a simple Excel spreadsheet, or a whiteboard. It’s easy to visualise and easy to track. Share it with your team, and make it visible and prominent throughout the 90 days.

Set rules and build habits

Hard work, discipline, and motivation can help, but another factor trumps all of them: habits. Habit trumps discipline because you’re not relying on motivation and inspiration. You don’t need discipline to brush your teeth or wear a seatbelt, do you?

Apply the same principle to your project. Build habits by setting rules for when and where you will work on it – for example:

  • “When I wake up each day, I will write another 500 words.”
  • “At the start of the weekly team meeting, we’ll spend 10 minutes sharing interesting ideas we have seen that week.”
  • “When I pull out my phone to check social media, I will first read an article from my saved bookmarks.”
  • “Every Tuesday morning from 9-10am, I will have meetings with the people I mentor.”

Imagine how you could fail

Traditional goal-setting urges you to imagine success in all its glory. But that’s too optimistic for a fast-changing world. Instead, imagine what might go wrong, so you can plan for it.

In Harvard Business Review in 2007, Gary Klein described a process he and colleagues devised: a “pre-mortem”. In a medical post-mortem, the surgical team analyses what went wrong so they can prevent future deaths. In a pre-mortem, before the project starts, imagine your project has failed after 90 days, identify what went wrong, and then add these obstacles, mistakes, and mis-steps to your project plan.

How will YOU set – and get – your next goal?

Boxer Mike Tyson said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” In our fast-changing world, there are so many things that could punch us in the face! But these principles will help you stay on track, so you can set – and, more importantly, get – your goals!

 




Please login with linkedin to comment

Gihan Perera

Latest News

It’s Friday Quiz Time Again!
  • Media

It’s Friday Quiz Time Again!

Take B&T's trivia quiz for your chance to win a $100 booze voucher and possible cirrhosis of a major internal organ.

by B&T Magazine

B&T Magazine
Big data technology and data science illustration. Data flow concept. Querying, analysing, visualizing complex information. Neural network for artificial intelligence. Data mining. Business analytics.
  • Marketing

SenateSHJ Launches New Trans-Tasman Practices

SenateSHJ has launched a new digital, data and insights capability designed to help clients tackle the growing complexity of communication challenges. SenateSHJ Digital, Data and Insights (DDI) will combine the firm’s existing Digital and Insights functions to create a Trans-Tasman capability focused on digital communication, and the generation and use of data to improve communication. […]

New BrandStory Format From Bonzai Allows 3x More Ad Space on Mobile
  • Media

New BrandStory Format From Bonzai Allows 3x More Ad Space on Mobile

Creative technology platform Bonzai has announced the launch of BrandStory – a new premium mobile ad format. BrandStory offers triple the ad space and 2.8 times greater time in view than single scroll ad formats, addressing the surging demand from brands worldwide for more real estate to drive real results by seamlessly intertwining awareness, exploration […]

B&T’s Search For Australia’s Greatest Ad Heads To Channel 7
  • Advertising

B&T’s Search For Australia’s Greatest Ad Heads To Channel 7

B&T went through the looking glass this morning, with editor-in-chief David Hovenden (above) appearing on Channel 7’s The Morning Show to get the general public involved in our search for Australia’s Greatest Ad. Hovenden chatted with Kylie Gillies and stand-in host Matt Doran about what makes a great ad and showcasing some of our favourites […]

by B&T Magazine

B&T Magazine
Opinion: The Tall Planner’s Kate Smither On The DBA Dilemma
  • Opinion

Opinion: The Tall Planner’s Kate Smither On The DBA Dilemma

The science is not in question – smarter people than I, with far more data, have codified it. The logic is not up for grabs…it makes sense that creating mental shortcuts to your brand keeps you at the top of your mind. Lead image: Kate Smither – Owner, The Tall Planner I wouldn’t even take […]

Opinion

by B&T Magazine

B&T Magazine
African woman using a cellphone in an office alone
  • Marketing

Ortto & Tall Bob Partner To Deliver Better SMS & MMS For Australian & NZ Businesses

Two Australian-born technology providers have joined forces to bring more power and choice to marketers in Australia and New Zealand with mobile messaging that is more local, cost-effective, and integrated. It’s a partnership that sees two Australian software companies come together to deliver a world-class mobile-first solution for marketers building data-driven, personalised, omnichannel campaigns. While […]

Slew Of New Hires At Snap Inc.
  • Media

Slew Of New Hires At Snap Inc.

Snap Inc. has announced a number of new recruits. B&T unaware if it positively impacted SEEK's share price.

Reddit Gets Playful Brand Refresh
  • Technology

Reddit Gets Playful Brand Refresh

This will be of interest to any Reddit fans, graphic designers or lovers of an orange so bright it burns the retinas.

Zitcha & Broadsign Partner To Drive Global In-Store Retail Media Market
  • Advertising

Zitcha & Broadsign Partner To Drive Global In-Store Retail Media Market

Zitcha and Broadsign have teamed up to integrate the Broadsign out-of-home (OOH) advertising platform with Zitcha’s retail media platform. The collaboration empowers retailers to maximise and monetise in-store digital display networks and enables advertising partners to easily view and book available in-store inventory and review campaign performance alongside the retailer’s other media channels. With the […]

Double Rainbouu & 7-Eleven Launch Exclusive Summer Fashion Label
  • Marketing

Double Rainbouu & 7-Eleven Launch Exclusive Summer Fashion Label

Today, 7-Eleven has announced a one-of-a-kind collaboration with the popular Sydney-based anti-resort wear label Double Rainbouu. Dropping tomorrow, December 1, just in time for summer, this limited-edition capsule will infuse the fashion brand’s rebellious spirit with a distinctly iconic 7-Eleven flavour. The unisex collection features five must-have styles comprising two signature Hawaiian shirts, a peaked cap, a bucket hat […]