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When my mind wandered, to bring it back sounded simple enough.
내 마음이 산란하였을 때 그것을 되돌리는 것은 너무 간단하게 들렸다
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The task sounded simple enough: get an official photo of Indiana Conservation Officer Levi Knach with his K-9 partner, Kenobi.
Sounds Simple Enough . . . (famous last words)
If someone approached you with an offer of how to deliver a 10% uplift on performance and productivity in your current business would you listen to what they had to say?
What if they told you that instead of spending money developing a new algorithm or cloud based platform you should invest in setting goals?
Simple but true, goal setting is one of the easiest ways to increase motivation and enhance performance.
This is backed by research that dates back to the 1960s by psychologist Gary Latham.
His research found that setting goals increased performance and productivity from 11 to 25 percentage points.
Way back then this was somewhat of a shocking finding. (we’ve come a long way since the 60s)
If you think what that means in the context of an eight-hour day as a baseline, it is the equivalent of getting two extra hours of work simply by building a mental frame around the activity. Not every goal is the same though.
The largest increase in motivation and productivity came from setting big goals. Big goals outperformed small goals, medium-sized goals, and vague goals. Big goals help focus attention, and they make us more persistent. This results in much more effective workers who are willing to get up and try again when they encounter hardship.[2]
Big goals work best when there’s an alignment between an individual’s values and the desired outcome of the goal. Here’s an example from WW2 to illustrate this message. Mid-way through the WW2 the Germans introduced the first jet powered aircraft. The psychological impact of this new weapon was overpowering.
The Allied forces and the Americans needed to respond. Lockheed Martin, a Government contractor, produced the US’s first military jet in 143 days.
Most government contractors can’t even get their paperwork and contracts agreed upon in that time much less deliver a finished aircraft.
The workers that delivered that aircrafts goal was not to build a jet airplane in record time. Their big goal was to save the world from Nazi peril. This was the something that everyone could get behind. The record speed at which they delivered was just one of many by products of establishing a big goal.
In working in and with businesses, both large and small, the importance of having a clear Mission and Vision statement and aligning your goals to them is often overlooked. The numbers behind the research don’t lie.
Simple isn’t always easy.
Jim Schuman, CEO & Co-Founder of JMGrow
What’s JMGrow? JMGrow helps CEOs grow great companies. We provide a systematic approach to growth that includes a blended learning platform, a community of like minded CEOs and certified Growth Advisors to get you the answers when and where you need them.
To learn more abut what our clients are experiencing with JMGrow... find out more here.
References
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goal_setting
[2] BOLD, Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler