Those of you who have read my column on a regular basis know I am a strong advocate of goals and objectives. I encourage executive coaching clients to ask, “Where am I going?”, “How will I get there?”, “What will the end look like?” and “How do I measure success?” That said, I see all too often a drive to the finish that can at best, be exhausting, and at worst a disaster.
Why? Because it’s not just the end goal results that count.
What are the risks of being solely focused on the end goal?
Think about a championship football game. Each team wants and needs to win. Both know there is more to the game than just reaching the end zone. Failing to achieve first downs, managing the clock poorly, and not allowing the other team to score are as integral to the winning strategy as scoring points. Some players are not expected to put points on the board, yet they have high value to the team for their expertise. There are specialists who have small but critical roles that may have no immediate impact on winning but without their talents, the team could not execute.
Coaches on the sideline, managing every aspect of the game, never set foot on the field no less get near a goal post. Yet, they are essential. My point is this, it takes much more than just the finishing of tasks and strategy to have a superior end goal result.
If you only focus on your end goal results, you risk:
Losing site of the day-to-day steps forward required for quality execution throughout the process.
Interim check-ins and measurements to make sure you are doing what you want and are getting the initial results you expected, become less important, and sometimes abandoned or forgotten. Only when a disaster happens (or is about to), do people scramble to find a short-term solution. They are often too distracted by the end goal.
Missing opportunities because you are laser focused on one target. New ways, efficiencies, additional contributors, applied technology, another perspective, might be overlooked, ignored, or viewed as an obstacle or distraction because of the rigid plan.
Becoming less agile and inflexible because of the rigidity and dedication to the original goal.
Diluting the interesting parts of the process. For many people, the building is more interesting and instructive than the completed structure.
Failing to find the time and energy to teach others. It becomes a “follow me” culture with little mentoring or career development of more junior members.
Confusing participants by only describing the big picture. Many people want and need details. It is part of the learning curve and is a means for engaging all members to be part of the program.
Applying the “trust me” approach because it seems more efficient and, “Why do they need to know the details?” but attain less buy-in and teamwork.
There are times and leaders/managers who are most comfortable living in the future-focused big picture world. That is fine and necessary. The challenge is when organizations fail to give attention to the day-to-day process that leads to the attainment of that ultimate end goal. This oversight puts the project at risk, is not career development-focused, and narrows options. It’s a risk not worth taking.
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