Set Unreasonable Goals Subject to Revision

Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson has described how Mr. Jobs would periodically distort reality when setting goals. He’d establish deadlines that were impossible to meet, and he’d then insist the goals were reasonable.
     There were occasions in which this distortion of reality created a new reality: The goal was met. In other cases, Mr. Jobs had to accept the limitations which accompany reality distortion. He’d end up revising a goal.
     There are times when you can motivate yourself and your staff to scale a Mount Everest of profitability challenges by setting unreasonable goals and then proving them possible by achieving them. Still, to preserve the well-being of yourself, your business, and your staff, be sure each unreasonable goal is subject to revision.
     Study findings from University of British Columbia and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology provide insight about how to do this. Researchers considered goal pursuit, achievement, failure, and abandonment. The kernel of their advice: Identify how much of the motivation to achieve the goal is coming from within yourself and how much from outside influences. The more that comes from outside influences, the sooner you should respond to shortfalls by choosing a lower mountain to climb. Disengage from the unreachable. On the other hand, the greater the degree to which the motivation to achieve the goal comes from within yourself, the wiser it is to greet goal achievement by next embarking on achievement of a more ambitious goal.
     Other research, from San Francisco State University and York University, shows how a decision to climb the unreasonably challenging mountain can distort both the goal and the teamwork involved in achieving it. The subjects of study in the research were people who signed on for a commercial climbing expedition of Mount Everest, a purchase decision costing in the range of $50,000.
     The original goal was to reach the summit, and the default method was to work as a team. However, as the paying climbers would get closer to the summit, their goal became more focused on achieving a unique distinction, such as being the first woman of a given nationality to climb Everest. The consequence was a shift from collaboration and support to competitiveness and exclusion.
     Overly ambitious goals engender fear. Fear can help you move fast and think sharply. When excessive, though, fear can immobilize a retailer and destroy a work team.

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