Goals are important, but not quite how you think - a new way to measure success

As discussed in my last blog, it is important to work from goals. After all, it is hard to pick up a spare in bowling when a curtain hides which pins remain. Likewise, without targets to strive for, you don’t know what direction to focus your energy.
 
Even more important than setting goals are:

• Breaking them into smaller tangible components, with quarterly milestones

• Developing action plans that set the specific steps you plan to take to achieve them

• Evaluating progress regularly

Why is this so important? In my career, I have seen precisely 0% of companies achieve all their goals. Why? Because they set too ambitious or too many goals, making it hard to achieve everything when faced with the ebb and flow of day-to-day work.

When we define success only against goals, we miss the point. We could feel like a failure if we miss them, even if we make significant progress. So, emphasize your action plans, work from them, live in them, and learn from them to achieve real progress. You derive real success from these process steps taken toward achieving your goals.

 I still have room for three planning engagements in my calendar in the fourth quarter. These are great, high-energy exercises, and I would love to conduct one for you or one of your portfolio companies. Let me know where I can help.