Goal-setting at work (when I wasn’t the boss) was the most uninspiring process. Most of the time, it involved me sitting at a desk outside of work hours to actually write out my new, SMART goals based on the company’s plan. Every team was the same, just with some new goal setting acronym. I didn’t care what they called it. The only reason I put any effort into goal setting? I knew it would impact my money.
Well, that and avoiding an awkward yearly review meeting. I felt so much dread just waiting to have this conversation with my manager where she would brain dump everything I did wrong over the last year. I was supposed to feel inspired talking about everything we achieved over the last year and to learn from the ways I failed.
Instead, it seemed like an intentional lashing. Most of the time, I was hearing feedback for the first time. Ultimately, I would not get the raise or promotion I was so eagerly chasing. Rather than being inspired, I left those meetings trying to figure out how to lower the bar so I’d get my money next time. What incentive was there to make other people money if I wasn’t going to get mine?
The Research Behind Goal Setting At Work: What Works?
There’s research dating back to the 1930s that shows the way we approach goal setting at work today doesn’t work, yet it’s repeated in corporate offices every year. So if it’s not spreadsheets and project reviews, what does work for encouraging innovation in goal setting at work (while still getting shit done)? Do we need to be SMART or SMARTER? That’s a goal-setting joke.
I started my search to find some data and stumbled on this episode of the Huberman Lab Podcast about the science behind goals. The first point he made that made a lot of sense to me? No one is learning anything if you’re hitting 100% of the goal every time. When people are learning, they should hit 85% of benchmarks.
Want innovation? You have to reward failure. Our current program sets up a system that rewards completion, so just like me, your team sets the bar lower so they could get the incentive we exchange for work: money. Contrary to popular belief, we have to make room to fail if we want to stay ahead.
Joy? During Goal Setting At Work? I Mean…
The other factor in successful goal setting programs according to Huberman? Joy. Don’t roll your eyes. This isn’t foo foo pseudo-science. It’s endorphins and brain science. Also something we never talk about at work…
I learned this one the hard way when I started Three Ears Media. After missing some of my initial goals, I tried to operate without any. I don’t need to make goals just to have something to feel bad about, right? That didn’t work either. Pouring everything I had into my business without taking a minute to celebrate a win was the formula for my burnout. I hit that wall hard.
I was successful and I still felt like shit. So, over the last 2 years, I tried a different approach to goal setting and it worked for me. I started to feel the joy - of my work, of feeling like I was doing something right - again. It was such a gift that I have to share it with you,too.
How To Set Goals That Don’t Make You Feel Like Sh*t
I wrote about that entire self-education around goal-setting in my new book, The Bounce Back Factor, because goals don’t need to make people feel bad. It doesn’t mean abandoning the goals altogether, it means changing things up from the traditional ways.
That starts with goal-setting framed around the only guarantee in our lives: uncertainty and failure. Everything can change overnight. Things will go wrong.
Great for:
- Consultants who feel stuck in their business,
- Individuals who want to set goals but fear failure,
- Corporate groups looking for a new approach to goal setting,
- Teams that never considered goal setting might be standing in the way of innovation,
- If you Googled goal setting at work and made it this far in the post.
I encourage any team looking for a new approach to take a look. This isn’t woo woo folklore. This is science-based goal-setting that might look a little different, sure, but the results look a little different too.
