I had mentioned this concept in one of my recent posts. A perfect opportunity to explain this hit me in the face recently. 

I recently attended a meeting where established goals for the year were discussed. We assess where we stand and then analyze various issues such as validity of the goal, roads to failure or success and and so on and so forth. I was left a bit perplexed by the discussion. Here is why I think we fail and what to do about it. 


**SETTING GOALS:**
https://media.giphy.com/media/l4q8smEhMD3ilRbd6/giphy.gif

It sounds great. The moment you set a goal you feel rejuvenated. There is something to aim for. You can see a little more purpose for the next day. You fill your planner rather quickly. This is akin to a sugar high. A crash is right behind the corner. Take an example of a large organization. 20 people in a board make a decision to achieve a goal. Hundreds of people on a daily basis have to now put in an extra effort daily and modify their somewhat set routines to accommodate the new goal.  The goal is a year long project . They will have to do this extra work on a daily basis for that long. It is an absolute truth that most people will never get a personal communication as to why the goal was set and why is it important for the organization. Many things happen here. Unintended consequences arise. 
**A:**    People had a routine for a reason. They already were trying to accomplish many previously set goals. The overworked employee had somehow found the ways and means to do his job adequately. It has taken many tweaks to get there. Most people give extra effort beyond their job descriptions to make the wheel go round. No matter how small an additional task is by anyone's standards, it is much more magnified for the individual who has to adjust his routine. Some find it difficult, other find it impossible. It affects people very negatively. 
**B:**   Trying to accomplish a now disrupted routine day after day takes a toll. When all parts in the machine have a role to play then the weakest link disrupts everything very early in the game. People leave. People quit. People change positions. The disruptions keep coming. 
**C:**   The worker who does not receive personalized communication and instead is communicated to via anenues such as email, an immediate supervisor etc will not be invested in that goal. 
**D:**    Resentment sets in early and deep. 

The biggest trap lies in the fact that some organizations will fail to develop processes and accountability that facilitate goal achievement. If a somewhat loosely constructed plan is set in motion, it fails to account for many easily predictable variables and sub plans to deal with those as they happen. A leadership structure to develop and implement a roadmap is often missing and thus accountability cannot happen. 

Here is an example of a typical meeting: We are behind in getting to a goal X. Three people in the meeting give out ideas as to what can be done better to improve the numbers. The meeting has to end so the motion is to go ahead and do those 3 " simple" things. And now the rest of the employees are expected to just start doing it the next day. Not all ideas that sound good are good ideas. You need to analyze the ideas one by one. Find the one with the biggest impact. Develop systems to achieve it or develop 2 systems to encompass 2 goals. Before you ask someone else to start doing something, accept the burden of an indepth analysis and if it seems like a winner then accept the burden of developing a system where it can be set in motion. Then have expectations from your employees. 

There is sometimes an obvious failure to note that coming days will bring new goals and new problems. Who wants to address a group of people already overburdened by a goal and tell them about a new goal and then wait for them to clap? 
Emotional intelligence is not limited to understanding and facilitating ones own emotions towards success. It must also include understanding the emotions of hundreds and thousands of emplyees collectively and individually. Leadership then is about how to master these emotions and use them for the well being of the individual and the organization. 

Before I get to the developing systems part, allow me to say how new goals should be set forth in a large organization. 
**1.**Understand that people are overworked. Acknowledge that people not taking home the largest checks are still working as hard as anyone else and at the expense of their day to day lives. 
Always reduce the burden by at least the same amount as you intend to add to their day. One regulaction in and two out should become a standard. 
**2.**Always explain to people in large settings through personal interaction with higher leadership why what's new is important. Include all and get then engaged properly. Show them respect.It has often surprised me how people then take on leadership roles in their departments and come up with all kinds of fancy ways to make things happen. 
**3.** Delegate a committee to build a road map which has a pathway to success and that roadmap should anticipate issues, set forth all plans. The committee should be engaged with the workers throughout the course, should be easily accessible and should carry the burden of accountability. Failure to get to a goal is the failure of leadership and that is an absolute. 
**4**Keep the morale high. Reward people at multiple stages during the process of completion of the goal. 
**5.** Remember that failure to achieve is solely the failure of leadership. Success is always a result of all the workers. 

Now I will come to my main point, which is **DEVELOP SYSTEMS, NOT GOALS.**
An organization will place great emphasis and spend a lot of resources on a single goal. That goal may become irrelevant in the future. New goals will need to be achieved. You really want an organization that is not limited by goals. When a problem arises or a goal has to be met, don't focus on the goal. Focus on developing and implementing systems that will achieve much more than the goal. The goal will be encompassed regardless within the new system. The final achievements will be far greater. 
This requires analyzing the problem in depth and breaking it down to find all the bottlenecks. Suddenly the realization happens that the same bottlenecks are affecting many other issues in the system. This is an inevitable finding. 

Allow me an example. Suppose a company's email is not being read by workers often. There is a level of disengagement. So you look at gmail ( the preferred platform across the world). Most of the world accesses email on a mobile device at the touch of a button ( fingerprint identity, facial recognition etc). Is the company email format mobile friendly?. One touch access? Is the time saving or time consuming? Do you have to log into one system first before you can even access you email? 
If the answer is yes, all of the above has to change. A company should not cite security issues as an excuse because it is a bit too lame. The company should then assess ALL its communication methodologies and improve communication across the board and not just fix the email system. It should assess whether the workers were engaged enough and felt confident enough to have come forth describing the problem with email. Perhaps they did not because they have been shut down before. Perhaps they did and someone failed to respond properly. A whole system around new ways of employee engagement and communication will need to be established. So take a problem, dissect it, understand the larger issues and improve the whole system rather than one small issue. Otherwise you may solve one issue and solve nothing. 

Ned.