Goal-setting matters less than you think

(And you should still do it)

Conventional wisdom suggests that goal-setting is fundamental to success at work.

But there’s a growing trend against goal-setting. Some business leaders, like 37signals CEO Jason Fried, avoid setting goals altogether.

I understand the sentiment. Goal-setting can be counterproductive, and it doesn’t work on its own.

Some common problems with goal setting that I’ve experienced:

You set a goal that’s a bit too lofty. Once the going gets tough, we’re prone to abandoning the goal. Along with all the progress made up until that point.

Alternatively, you set a goal, work hard to achieve it and feel that brief sugar hit of accomplishment. But then fall into a motivation slump immediately after.

So, why does everyone think that goal-setting is so important at work?

The answer is ‘survivorship bias’. We love a success story. And most successes (the survivors) set goals. However, we tend to ignore the fact that those who didn’t succeed, also set goals.

Some experts on motivation like James Clear suggest that we focus on systems over goals – and I think this is spot on.

If you only focus on a handful of small things that you know are beneficial, and you can do each day, you will get positive results. Even without a clear end-goal. In the end, action is all that really matters for making progress.

So, is goal-setting a negative thing overall?

I’ve found that goals still can play an important part in the impact that individuals and organisations achieve. They help with direction and prioritising, can give you an initial push to get started, and allow you to more easily measure progress.

The approach that has worked for me, is to marry goals and systems together. Check my article for the framework I use for this, with some tips from my experience.