In Good to Great Jim Collins recounts his interview with Admiral Jim Stockdale from whom we get the term Stockdale Paradox. You can read an excerpt here, but the short take is that individuals only survive extreme situations when they simultaneously hold two competing thoughts in their heads: (1) They will ultimately prevail, and (2) They are going to face brutally hard circumstances along the way. When planning for your business, you have to think the same way – optimistic about the outcome, pessimistic about the path.
I’ve helped leadership teams set goals somewhere around 700 times, and most are good at the optimistic side of that equation but not the pessimistic side. If Admiral Stockdale were to show up and point out the brutal facts, most would shame him out of the room as a “Debbie downer.” If you allow that, your team won’t be ready when things get tough, and they’ll fail. Here are three questions to help you avoid that and take your goal setting to the next level:
What is the vision or benefit of the initiative? When people get a picture in their minds of what they’re going to achieve and the benefits it will bring, they get attached to the outcome and are much more likely to muster the commitment it takes to prevail.
What are the main obstacles we will face along the way? Don’t be afraid to go negative here. Let the accountants and lawyers have a field day. Make a list of those obstacles and you might just find that the obstacles are the path to success. You heard that right: in most cases, if you can identify and attack the things that block you, you’ll be 80% of the way to your goal.
What are the second-order effects? Second-order effects are the downstream consequences that could occur after you successfully execute the initiative. Say, for example, you plan to design and implement a new incentive compensation program that rewards growth in your producers’ books of business. A second-order effect might be that your long-time producers that manage big books, but are no longer growing them, feel left out, which could present a flight risk.
Try these questions when you are setting your goals for 2024 – you’ll be amazed at the focus and commitment they generate for your team. And if you want a comprehensive approach for a great 2024, call me and we’ll talk about how you can get everything you want from your business with EOS™.
