There is nothing like the feeling of achieving a very important goal.
When you’ve been working on something for a while, and you have given it your all, successful completion is something to celebrate.
While there is a psychological aspect that we need to understand when it comes to goal achievement, there is actually a very simple secret when it comes to increasing our likelihood of success.
When we consistently achieve our goals, great things happen. The results we strive for in business help us win customers and gain competitive advantage. The dreams we achieve in our personal lives help us to live a life of meaning and contribution.
This is a dream of success that many can likely relate to.
But the reality is that achieving our goals on a consistent basis is not really that easy. It seems doable when we write them down on paper or agree to them in the strategic planning session, but dreams and reality fail to come together more often than we care to admit.
If we can’t figure out a way to increase the likelihood that our goals will be achieved, we run the risk of failed business ventures and sub-optimal personal happiness.
It can be a really big problem at work. We need to make things happen and get things done. If we lead a team then we’re responsible for their productivity as well. But if we can’t consistently reach our goals, not only will productivity suffer, but also as a result our reputation, and our future career, just might be at stake.
As for us personally, how disheartening is it to work for those things we want that will make a difference in our lives and in the lives of our families, only to have them come up short, or fail altogether.
Well, this problem that impacts both our personal and professional lives, is certainly worth solving.
But the solution is often elusive.
We’ve all been there. We’ve all tried to figure out the one best way to write goals. With so many formulas, how do we know which one is best? So we try them all.
If we’re not using the well-known S.M.A.R.T. formula, then we’re using one of the multi-step versions. Whether 4 steps, or 8 or 12, they ultimately take you through a process of transforming your dreams into realities. At least, that’s the premise anyway.
But I learned a better way.
I remember when I was doing work with teams and helping them create execution plans, it all really came together for me. As I worked with them to articulate their goals, it seemed easy, until we needed everyone in the room to agree on one common goal.
That’s when it hit me.
As each person tried to figure out the best way to accomplish the goal, it became crystal clear that even though they thought they were talking about the same goal, they really weren’t. There was disagreement about what the starting point was, what the ending point was, and how best to measure the success of the endeavour. When we realized we were talking about different behaviours, then we started to really solve the problem.
The issue with not achieving goal results wasn’t that people didn’t want to make it happen successfully, it’s that they were working towards different goals. Why was that happening? Because they each had a different definition of what needed to be accomplished.
The key was that each person had different behaviours in mind. When we talk about behaviours, we are talking about the actions that people need to take to make something happen. When we are talking about actions, we use verbs to describe those actions.
Eureka!
Verbs are the key.
So, how do you write a goal that is highly executable? You make sure you select the correct verb.
For example, your team can:
- conduct customer service training
- provide customer service training
- implement customer service training
Depending on the verb you use, your team might understand something different about the customer service training project.
If you conduct customer service training, are you personally delivering the training or are you merely coordinating schedules between all involved parties?
If you provide training, are you just making it available and someone else is doing the conducting? And does this mean you are paying to make it available to others and all they do is show up?
If you implement customer service training does that also mean you will design and develop it? From scratch? Or customize a third-party solution?
Okay, so back to the team planning sessions.
Once the team had selected and agreed upon the right verb, the planning session went very smoothly. Then we added a very simple formula so we had a highly executable goal. That pointed everyone in the same direction, and clarified specific behaviours and appropriate actions.
The formula: (Verb) + (Subject) + (X to Y) + (by When)
Using this formula results in a highly executable goal, written in a clear fashion that drives predictable behaviour. Remember, goals don’t fail because people don’t want to do them, but because people are working at cross purposes. We talk about common goals and shared expectations, and that one small word, the verb in the goal statement, can make all the difference in the world.
It’s really that simple, and it’s a critical first step that people often miss.
Bottom line is that many people set goals to achieve great results both at work and in their personal lives. It’s as likely that we’ll fail at achieving our goals, as it is that we’ll be successful. We can use standard formulas but if we don’t have a proper verb at the beginning, our teams can be heading in different directions. Even if no team is involved, sometimes we write one verb and think something else. The verb is the key because it identifies the actions that need to be taken to achieve success. Once you have the verb, follow up with a subject, an X-to-Y by When, and you have yourself a great executable goal.
Defining a strong executable goal is only one step in an outstanding execution process. For more information about how to learn the remaining steps, take a look at the Strategic Leadership Program offered by Athena.
