One thing that we all have a tendency to do is establish goals.
Whether it be in our personal or professional lives, goal-setting produces a number of different
benefits.
So in today's episode we're going to talk about goal-setting.
Why it works and how it may produce unintended consequences.
First off, lets talk about goal-setting theory.
The basic underlying premise of goal-setting theory is the goals that we establish affect
our achievements.
By establishing goals with certain characteristics, we can then increase our motivation towards
a particular task.
Some of the most notable research has been conducted by Gary Latham and Edwin Locke,
who were able to prove that establishing specific and challenging goals where participants received
feedback on their progress achieved higher productivity than their counterparts.
These results were also consistent across low complexity jobs, such as independent loggers,
and high complexity jobs, such as scientists and engineers.
So regardless of your occupation, establishing goals provides a benefit.
But establishing just any goal is not going to produce a great motivational benefit.
For example, the common goal of simply doing your best was found in some studies to produce
similar levels of productivity than simply no goal at all.
Now why is it that goal-setting tends to increase our motivation and result in greater performance
outcomes?
Well first, according to academic research, goals help focus our energies on the things
that actually matter.
By establishing a goal, what you essentially do is prioritize those activities that lead
to the accomplishment of the goal.
Anything else simply gets in the way, which means you would likely focus on engaging in
goal-relevant activities.
Several studies also cite that goals energize people.
This is particularly powerful when challenging goals, commonly referred to as stretch goals
are established.
These types of goals lack a clear avenue in terms of achieving them, which forces individuals
to think of new methods of accomplishing them.
In addition to energizing us, goals also affect our persistence.
This is especially powerful if our goals are made public.
We're far more likely to continue to exert the effort to accomplish the goal because
we don't want to admit that we failed at something.
Lastly, establishing goals forces us to use our existing knowledge and abilities to accomplish
our goals.
Or, if a deficiency exists in this area, they force us to acquire the knowledge and skills
needed to accomplish our goals.
This goes back to persistence.
If we identify something that is truly important to us, then we're likely to expend additional
energy to achieve the goal.
Although there are many benefits of goal-setting, not everyone gets the opportunity to receive
these benefits to the same degree.
The reason for this, is a lot depends upon the types of goals that are established.
In order to receive the motivational benefits that goal-setting theory provides, goals should
meet certain criteria.
The first area is referred to as goal specificity.
Goals need to be specific in order to truly affect our behavior.
Remember when I said earlier that a goal of "do your best" actually resulted in similar
performance levels to setting no goal at all.
The reason is that doing your best is vague, and doesn't provide a specific target to work
towards.
We're also much more likely to quite when something gets a little difficult because
we can always hide behind well I did my best.
In addition to being specific, goes should be challenging or difficult.
Now challenging does not mean impossible to achieve.
Although challenging goals tend to be motivating, goals that are viewed as impossible to achieve
often produce the opposite result.
In order to receive the benefits that come along with setting goals, participants must
also accept the goal and be committed to it.
For example, if a supervisor sets a goal for a subordinate their's a strong chance that
the subordinate won't be very committed to the goal.
However, if the subordinate has the opportunity to be involved in the goal-setting process,
they're much more likely to accept the goal and be committed to it.
The last criteria under goal-setting theory is the presence of feedback.
Individuals need to have some way of gauging their own performance so that they can make
the necessary adjustments.
Failure to receive feedback leaves individuals in an almost neutral state and can make them
frustrated, which tends to affect performance.
So we've talked about what goal-setting is, why goal-setting results in greater performance
outcomes, and how to utilize goal-setting theory effectively.
But is their a hidden cost to goal-setting?
Like anything, goal-setting theory does come with its share of risks.
A common issue with goal-setting is that it incentivizes workers to avoid helping one
another.
Since goals are often set at the individual level, workers would be affecting their ability
to achieve their own goals if they took time to help a co-worker.
This becomes particularly pervasive when the achievement of goals are linked to desirable
rewards.
So although managers may be preaching the importance of teamwork, workers are encouraged
to focus on their own tasks, which is what they'll likely do.
One solution to this problem is to establish a set of both individual and group goals,
with various incentives tied to each.
Assuming that these goals don't conflict with one another, this can be a way to tie individual
interests to the interests of the group.
Thank you watching this video on the goal-setting theory.
In next week's video we're going to talk about leadership, specifically the path-goal theory.
For questions, please leave them in the comment box below and I'll do my best to get back
to them in a timely fashion.
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Thanks for watching.