Don't set goals, wonder

As a coach, one of the main contributions I make is to help people clarify and set goals.

My own experience of this is that it works almost magically. In 2008, when moving to the US, my wife found a copy of my 2001 goals (before we met). There were goals in the areas of career (founding a business), relationships (getting married), playing Bridge for England, getting out of debt, learning to meditate, becoming an author, and running a 5k. Although I'd not set eyes on these since written, they were all achieved.

The theory for how this works, is if seriously undertaken, goals lodge themselves in the subconscious and subtly direct our priorities and how we see the world. Now new research sheds further light on some of the 'magic' (code for dimly understood psychology) that helps realize goals.

Now new research ( http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-willpower-paradox )shows that holding goals loosely (as I did) and as a question, 'will I', rather than 'I will' maybe actually yield better results.

The mechanism, it seems, is that tightly held goals framed as 'I will' lead to a reward/ punishment schemata, whereas holding them as an open question allows for experimentation, small failures without harsh self-critique, and an openness to new ways of seeing the world that are less constrained by the harsher 'Ich will'.

I've frequently helped business leaders to view strategy in this way. From one point of view there is a very 'male' approach to strategy, set goals, remove obstacles and stick with them. More emergent ('feminine') approaches sense the future (pattern recognition) as it emerges. Strategic goals are a feature of new situations, but openness to the world as it unfolds allows the seizing of as yet unconceived opportunities and a more dynamic approach to direction setting. Both are valuable, but the second prospers in times of complexity, when the strategic landscape is changing too rapidly for single-minded approaches to work.

This was most relevant during my recent career change. As I left writing behind, I could have chosen a number of different paths, becoming a partner at Accenture, or one at a smaller firm, becoming head of HR or Talent for a Fortune 100 company, found a new consulting firm, or run a consulting network and deliver value through a number of collaborations with other consulting firms. As I pursued all of these in parallel, the feedback from the marketplace was in favor of the latter. And as I interviewed with big consulting and big companies, I received emotional data about how the new positions might unfold. By setting my goals loosely and paying attention to what the market was telling me, I found a path of least resistance through a complex period.

This new research strikes me as a good place to experiment: frame the goal as a question, expand the horizons of possibility, and put the riding crop (which most people use for encouragement) down. You might be happier and realize more of your ambitions!

There is an entire billion dollar industry devoted to taking the business’ temperature through surveys of all kinds. Most of those are a waste of money because there are few good doctors who know what to do next to reduce the fever!

In order to be an inspirational leader, you need to first be inspired.

Culture Change is the most talked about and most infrequently achieved change in the business arena. Everybody says they want it, few are prepared to do what it takes.

Great talent development and a high-performance culture are key differentiators between world-class businesses and the mediocre. Sadly, few organizations know how to sustainably produce those.

What Gandhi taught us about leadership is that it is an inside job. He was shy, bookish and incapable of giving a public address. He knew he could only change India as quickly as he could change himself.

We don’t think a moral person is someone who merely obeys the law. We set the bar higher. Contrary to Milton Friedman, the same applies to businesses: an ethical business must have higher standards than simply avoiding the courts.

Nelson Mandela used to jog in place daily in his toilet-sized cell. Why? Despite being twenty years into a life sentence with no hope of reprieve, he said “one day I will lead my people to freedom, and to do that, I will have to be fit.” That sort of resolve is sadly missing from most of today's business leaders.

360 degree feedback is a recipe for mediocrity. If Winston Churchill scores 7 out of 7 for inspiration, how come so many business leaders score between 5.5 and 6 on 360 degree instruments. If raters standards dervie from those they see around them, we have a recipe for mediocrity.

Most of my life, I’ve had an IQ above 160. However, I’d trade 20 of those points, for 20 character-quotient points any day. The latter are much more valuable and much harder to come by.

Spirituality is essential for human flourishing. By that I mean living a life of meaning, connectedness, values and purpose. However, the connection with religion makes the word taboo. Leadership development requires working very hard on a leader’s spirituality, but never call it that.

Paul Gibbons

Don't set goals, wonder