Why You Shouldn't Move the Target
it only makes it harder for your team to hit goals
It was the middle of December, and I was standing in a log tower on top of a mountain. With my hood up and my hands in my pockets, I looked like a walking sleeping bag that refused to get blown off the tower by the repeated gusts of wind.
When my turn came, I stepped up to the railing and followed the instructions I was given.
What was I doing?
I was trying skeet shooting for the first time.
When the orange disc shot out from under the tower, I did my best not to lose sight of it against the tree line — while remembering the proper stance, while trying to ignore the wind — and then attempted to actually hit the tiny orange speck before it made it to the ground.
I didn't hit a single thing.
It’s hard to hit a target. And it’s even harder to hit a moving one.
When you set goals that don't clearly define the target for your team — or you keep moving the target around — you're making their job that much harder to do.
Your team already needs to keep guidelines in mind as I did my proper stance, as well as ignore distractions adding noise to their day, as I had to ignore the wind.
Instead of giving them a moving target, set your goals clearly and firmly.
Your outcomes tell you the value you need to deliver. They express something you need to do perpetually or over the long term. While you review them every three years, they shouldn't move dramatically and should be written plainly so your team understands them.
Your plan tells you what you need to do over the next three years to better achieve those outcomes. It includes both objectives and key results.
Your objectives represent a meaningful step that takes you to the next level. Your key results tell you what you need to deliver in order to consider the objective achieved.
Include a context statement with your objectives to ensure they’re tied to your outcomes and, ultimately, your Core strategy.
Then write each key result so you know exactly when it’s been delivered. Consider the following formula: [verb] [what you’re going to track] [from x - y].
If you can't include a number, ask yourself if a stranger could definitively say you delivered the result.
Does defining your goals clearly mean you never move a target? No.
Sometimes, things change and you need to adapt (*cough* global pandemic), but these things don’t come around frequently.
If you’re changing your goals on the regular because you got distracted by the latest trend or shiny idea, you undermine your team’s ability to achieve any goals.
Set your target and stay focused,
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