The Process versus The Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal

When a new manager take over a group, he or she usually follows one of two paths.

Either the manager announces that this group will achieve an extraordinary goal by a certain date, or the person says the focus will be on continually improving the process and eventually great results will occur.

Both approaches have an upside and a downside. If process managers don't eventually achieve something remarkable, employees and investors stop caring about the process and start looking for another manager. If the big-goal managers don't achieve those big goals, they lose their credibility as well.

On the other hand, both approaches can be effective. What makes a management approach effective is if it impacts the employees' behaviors and decision-making in ways that generate better sustainable results for the organization both in the short-term and in the long-term. We can argue all day whether a new manager should announce big goals on day one or should focus everyone's attention on improving the process of achieving great results.

The truth is it doesn't matter. A manager is only successful if he or she impacts behaviors and decision-making in ways that generate significantly better sustainable results. I encourage you as the manager to consider the situation and ask yourself these two questions:

1. For this particular group at this particular time, will announcing a big goal cause them to focus on improving their behaviors and decisions in ways that will help them achieve the goals or will it seem so unrealistic that it causes them to not take me seriously and ignore my advice?


2. For this particular group at this particular time, will focusing everyone's attention on the process of achieving great success move them to improve their behaviors and decisions or will it cause them to write me off in the haze of "we've been there and done that"?

Obviously this is going to be difficult. There is no management crystal ball that tells you for certain which approach will be more effective for your group at this time. Consider the two approaches and challenge yourself to select the one that you believe will have a greater impact on improving behaviors, decisions, and results. In the end, that will be the measuring stick of your effectiveness as a manager.