How arbitrary goals trick us
Goals are useful because they give us something to work toward. Specific goals are even better because they motivate us to visualize the prize.
As musicians, we have goals built-in for us. They are concerts, recitals, recording projects, competitions, and auditions. They are highly task-specific and time-specific - we perform this repertoire on this date.
Our goals might also be pieces we want to perform, causes we want to support, or jobs we want to have. And we often attach timelines to these goals ourselves - for example, I want to perform all the Bach cello suites before I finish my degree, or I want to win a job in this orchestra in the next two years.
Whatever the timeline, they are inherently arbitrary because we assigned them to ourselves. Even when a deadline is given to us (like a recital date or audition date), they are still arbitrary if we really think about it.
Simon Sinek speaks about the arbitrary nature of goals and timelines and how it impacts our people and our leadership. (Watch it here.)
When we have a performance that didn't go as well, we are disappointed because we think we've failed that goal. We worked hard but missed the mark. It feels all or nothing.
We even sometimes say, "if only we had one more rehearsal."
Well, that is information to lean into. Our concert date is arbitrary. That means that if it had been another date that allowed "one more rehearsal," we very well might just have successfully reached the goal. That is the only difference between success and failure - an arbitrary date.
Our less-than-ideal performance doesn't have to mean we failed our goal, it just means that we miscalculated how long it would take us to get to success.
However, the results-oriented nature of our industry leads us to view our goals as one-time transactions. We either make it or we don't. And we move on to start all over working toward the next goal.
If we achieve the goal, we are immediately rewarded handsomely with affirmations, recognition, and pride. If we don't, there's no reward or acknowledgement of the work put in. The lack of a reward keeps us unmotivated to examine our growth momentum and trajectory throughout the process of working on the goal.
Have we progressed at all? If so, at what pace? How far did we get? How short were we actually from our goal? Was there any undesirable trajectory? If so, why did that happen?
Examining failure is painful, so we overlook the value of this information. And we don't think to shed light on it or use it as a tool when evaluating performance in ourselves and in others. Our reward systems also get in the way by enabling a focus on product and results.
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To help us recognize the arbitrary nature of our goals, here are some questions we can ask:
How would you describe the individual or team's growth trends? Does it show a clear trajectory? Does it demonstrate steady progress over time?
Given this data, 1) would we have succeeded if the arbitrary finish date were slightly adjusted? Or 2) would we have succeeded if we adjusted our goal parameters to fit into the arbitrary date?
How might we be able to adjust (either the goal or the date) to help us improve our odds of success?
In this investigation, we might discover that a failed goal is not a failure at all. It might be a goal that just needed "another rehearsal" to be a success. And the takeaway is that in future planning for something similar, we simply need another rehearsal–not that our people are inadequate and failed.
Recognizing this is crucial. And it helps us ask this final question: how might we design reward mechanisms to highlight an emphasis on growth trends, especially in the cases when there is a failed goal?
Organizations and its people grow through adaptation. It makes sense that adjusting our mindset around our goals would be a crucial part of that process.
So next time you think about a goal that you might or might not have achieved, think about examining: how did you get there? What was your trajectory like? Should that in and of itself be recognized as success?
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