Achieve more in less time

A new year brings new opportunities. For many well-established, successful organisations, those opportunities may be hard to identify. You may do the obligatory goal setting of, for example, increasing revenue by 10%, aiming for 30% profit, and improving leveraging… but this often feels like a process of simply “ticking the boxes” in organisational practices. This practice, whilst good for some, lacks excitement and doesn’t necessarily invoke change and/or deliver impact.

I’m goal oriented but I’m seeing the value in some organisations, and some people, shifting from goals to objectives. You, like me, have probably received multiple newsletters on this topic referencing Roger Bannister’s story (see note at the bottom of this article if you haven’t heard his story). I tend to agree with the philosophy behind Bannister’s story, however, it’s only part of the reason I encourage some organisations to shift to objectives.

Shifting from Goals to Objectives

We set goals because we feel it’s the best way to work toward our “ideal state”. A goal suggests an end game, and then we set another end game, and another…. We all have the best intentions when setting goals (particularly those elusive New Year’s Eve goals), however, our best intentions are often bulldozed by the busyness of life. In organisations, our strategic goals are overtaken by operational needs. In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear suggests “we don’t rise to the level of our goals; we fall to the level of our systems”. Shifting from goals to objectives is simply shifting your focus to systems.

From a personal perspective, if you had a goal to write a book, instead have an objective to write a page of text each day. If you had a goal to be more mindful, instead have an objective to meditate for 20 minutes each day. Each of these objectives has no end game. Objectives are focussed on actions in the present. You may need to schedule your day differently, but again, this is focusing on your systems and how you live, rather than what you’re going to achieve.

Why try this from an ORGANISATIONAL perspective?

Organisations doing the obligatory “tick box” goal setting, can benefit from this approach in a few ways:

• Increase satisfaction by focussing on what’s in our control: Goals help define achievement, and some refer to achievement as a key to happiness. Paradoxically, moving your focus from “what you’re going to achieve” to “how you’re going to live” can help you achieve more AND make you happier. We’ve all met those people who “will be happy when…”. Organisations get stuck in a similar narrative – “things will be easier when…”. Often that “when” is out of our control. An organisation can set a goal to attract 10 new clients, but that’s not within our control. The actions (or objectives) within our control might include; attending monthly business development events, writing quarterly industry articles, and having coffee meetings with new people each fortnight…

• Achieve more in less time: You can also achieve faster results by focusing on objectives. The Journal of Motivation and Emotion published a study on the impact of “attention narrowing”. The study was undertaken with runners and found those who focused on objects within their line of sight performed better due to “perceived proximity”. Anyone who runs can relate to this. You don’t think about the end of the run. Rather, you focus on running to the next light pole, and then to the corner, and so on. The suggestion is that you take more action when something is within reach. Our actions are within reach.

• Increase Accountability: Focussing on objectives means you can measure your progress daily. If your objective is to dedicate 30 minutes each day to mentoring, it’s very easy to measure your progress versus a goal of “achieve better leveraging through mentoring of the team”.

Establishing ORGANISATIONAL Objectives

From an organisational perspective, setting objectives can be slightly more challenging. You want to know you’re progressing, and your progress is toward a common goal. There are a few ways to achieve alignment with objectives:

• An Organisation’s Strengths:  Most organisations have completed a SWOT analysis. Unfortunately, not all organisations refer to the SWOT when setting goals. If your objectives are utilising your strengths, optimising opportunities, mitigating threats, and strengthening or reframing your weaknesses, you can assume you’re heading in the right direction.

• Culture Statement / Employee Value Proposition:  Establishing objectives to review and improve your workplace is vital. If your culture statement refers to a supportive environment, you might have an objective to hold more regular one-on-one meetings. If your culture statement refers to worklife balance (like so many culture statements do), then you should assess what that means for your team and implement it accordingly (or remove the value if you’re not happy to “live and breathe” it, but that’s a whole other conversation about empty value statements…).

• Customer Value Proposition: What differentiates you from other similar organisations? If your value proposition refers to speed or timeliness, then objectives aligned with timeliness are appropriate. If your value proposition refers to relationships, then objectives should be focused on this.

• Organisational Values: Many organisations have values, but few live and breathe those values. If one of your values is innovation, objectives should be either targeting innovation or creating an environment that enables innovation. If you value continuous improvement, then focus your objectives on regular improvement initiatives.

• An organisation’s ‘Why’: Simon Sinek suggests organisations should have a why, and within an organisation, teams may have a why. Finding your organisation’s why is not easy, but can be an effective tool to differentiate yourself, and to attract and retain talented team members. If your objectives are aligned with your ‘why’, you can assume you’re headed in the right direction.

“You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do” (Carl Gustav Jung). Establishing objectives based on how you talk about your organisation strengthens your brand and progresses you in the right direction.

In closing

I’m not suggesting this approach suits all organisations or all people. If you’re someone who struggles to take action, setting objectives may help you progress faster than setting goals. Alternatively, if you consistently achieve goals, you may reach new heights by setting objectives.

As mentioned, I’m goal oriented but I’m challenging myself to a year of no goals. Focusing on how I’m going to live rather than what I’m going to achieve doesn’t mean I won’t be driven. It’s quite the opposite. I can measure the achievement of objectives daily therefore accountability increases. I also feel a sense of achievement each day that I meet my objectives allowing me to appreciate the process. And appreciating the process is what life is all about - after all, “if you don’t appreciate the process, you won’t enjoy the success”.

End Note - Roger Bannister’s Story:

In 1954, Bannister was the first man to break the four-minute mile barrier. Not surprisingly, multiple people then proceeded to run a mile in under four minutes. This started a mindset movement, suggesting that if you limit your goal, you limit your achievements.