What’s the Goal?

At a recent seminar, I did a team exercise that entailed assembling a puzzle of interlocking sticks.

The instructions were vague, and included three “opportunities” to assemble the structure for time. Our group did it only once, posting the slowest time of the four groups, 65 seconds.

No one asked the instructor the record, which is an astonishing 8 seconds. No team has ever beaten the record without knowing what it was and setting that as their goal.

The real world does not provide instructions. Goals drive performance. It’s up to managers to set those goals and focus the team.

– Kip Caffey, Cary Street Partners