The Find: Specific and challenging goals are a powerful motivator in business, but let your goal setting run wild and you’ll do more harm than good; luckily there’s a checklist to help you set sensible targets.- The Source: A Harvard Business School working paper with the catchy title of “Goals Gone Wild” via the FT Management blog.
The Takeaway: What could possibly be the problem with goal setting? Plenty, say the four authors of this HBS working paper, including “a narrow focus that neglects non-goal areas, a rise in unethical behavior, distorted risk preferences, corrosion of organizational culture, and reduced intrinsic motivation.” Take, for example the case of Sears in the 1990s, which set an ambitious sales goal for its auto repair staff of nearly $150 an hour. The result was staff overcharging for work and recommending unnecessary repairs company wide – not the result Sears was hoping for. Nonetheless, it’s not like businesses can skip setting goals, so how can they maximize the motivating effects while minimizing the risks? The FT boils down the research into a handy ten point checklist of questions managers should ask themselves about their goals:
- Are the goals too specific?
- Are they too challenging and what happens if they are not met?
- Who sets the goals and is the employee adequately involved?
- Is the time horizon appropriate or does it foster short-termism?
- How might the goals influence risk-taking and what are the acceptable associated risks?
- How might the goals promote unethical behavior and what safeguards are in place?
- Can they be tailored to individuals while remaining fair?
- How will they affect the organization’s culture? Are team goals more appropriate?
- Do affected staff have an intrinsic as well as extrinsic motivation?
- Would learning, rather than performance, be a better target?
For much more explanation of the ten questions, download the complete paper.
The Question: Are there any tales out there of the unintended consequences of goal setting and what can be done to avoid them?
