New Year’s Resolutions — The Power of Objectives (sort of)
We’re nearly two weeks into the new year and many people’s best intentions with their new year’s resolutions are lying in tatters. On one hand I’d argue that we’re making our resolutions at the wrong time of year. The clue is in the dates for the UK’s tax year, which maintained the length of the ‘tax year’ when the calendar was adjusted. That was to avoid anyone avoiding paying tax, and the date in the current calendar is April 5th. It suggests we should be making our resolutions when Spring has sprung and the world is full of growth and change. But that’s not the point I want to make.
We’ve all heard about using SMART to help with goal setting. You have to make them:
- Specific,
- Measurable,
- Achievable,
- Realistic, and
- Time-dependent.
I’ve seen various ways that they can be made SMARTER by adding (take your pick from the following):
- Evaluated/Emotionally relevant/Exciting/Ethical/Educational
- Reviewed/Rewarded/Readjust/Relevant
I have my own variation that covers most of the bases, but as there is no age filter on here you’ll have to contact me if you want to know it.
Did the people who have put aside their resolutions succumb to the “doom of the season” or just not make them SMARTER? No, what they most likely didn’t do was consider how likely they were to fail.
Wait a minute! If the objective is SMART then surely its Achievable? Here’s the rub, the human mind gets a little more motivation when success isn’t guaranteed. There are times when we like certainty, and I suspect or sense of motivation (and our need for certainty) is greatly affected by the downside of failure.
However, when the downside is small, or perhaps not ‘terminal’, then we like it when our success follow the ‘Pareto Principle’ (or Power Law). In short, a good objective is one where we have an 80% chance of success. There are a multitude of ways we could fail, but the classic project categories would say we fail to deliver it on time, on budget, or on quality.
Reaching agreement between to target setter and the target achiever needs to be a well balanced conversation. That’s true whether it is between two people or between “two parts” of the same person.
To learn more about target setting connect with me on LinkedIn or drop me a line on ed@pandoraconsulting.co.uk or ed@bakerfish.com