Goal Setting, the Real Work continued
Problem four: The common difficulty with goal setting is that although you need to focus on the positive (some say in ratio of four to one) often there is little attention paid to assessment of obstacles and the strategies to overcome them. What we need to do is spend a little time in predefining anticipated difficulties or obstacles and allocation the resources that will be needed to overcome them. we may need legal assistance, financial assistance or the cooperation of an already over-stretched production department just to cite a few examples. Lets be honest even with all the positive attitude we can muster we still have to deal with the reality that obstacles are unavoidable and we must spent some energy in planning for them in advance.
Problem five: Little or no serious focus is given to the solutions that need to be developed for overcoming obstacles. I’ve often been in planning meetings and heard the term “lets cross that bridge when we come to it”. If we are going to invest time energy and money into the execution of a plan that attitude is just not good enough. Some sort of scenario development needs to be undertaken an brainstorming for creative solutions needs to be done at the outset, otherwise all investment up to the the point of difficulty can be wasted.
Problem six: Keeping the goal to ourselves either as individual or a small team: Attempting to achieve our gaols alone or with limited resources is fraught with danger. We are all always part of a bigger process and we need to align with those ‘external processes’ and stakeholders if we are to achieve real results at a minimum cost. You need to call on all resources you have reasonable access to the get the best results for the goals you have set.
Problem seven: Not setting and clearly defining the important milestones on our path to achieving the result we (outcomes) we want. I talked in the previous post about objectives and again these have to be clearly defines and measured. Once reached they also need to be rewarded and celebrated.
I guess I could have titled these posts the “Seven Deadly Sins of Goal Setting” and that they may be. Finally it is wise to remember that goals to us may just be seen as onerous targets when other from whom you enlist support and effort. People inherently do not like externally imposed targets, so if you are gong to obtain “real support” for your goals, you have to get others whom you need to buy into your vision and accept the mission that the goals are supporting.
Ric-orglearn The six “Ps” of planning, always important and so is visualising what you want the end result to look like!
5 comments
Svend Hansen says:
October 18, 2011 at 9:58 am (UTC 0)
Very valid points! I see the mistakes mentioned made almost on a daily basis.
Kathleen says:
October 19, 2011 at 9:35 pm (UTC 0)
good to gain real support – doesn’t happen overnight -
rictownsend says:
October 19, 2011 at 11:19 pm (UTC 0)
Kathleen, You are sure right there.. however it is very gratifying when it does happen
Ric
Tori says:
October 25, 2011 at 2:44 pm (UTC 0)
Great Posts..
We should always keep our goals in mind.. It is so easy to get caught up in ‘the daily work’ that we forget the goals. We have to take the time to clearly define them, no matter how big or small we think they are.. And of course rewarding our efforts is key..
Great food for thought, we should have this on our pin boards over our desks
Tori
rictownsend says:
November 2, 2011 at 5:02 am (UTC 0)
Thank you very much Tori