Yes, it's been quite some time. Thanks for coming back.
I love to write, and I don't care how many times I've said it -- I love the way this blog sort of passively keeps me in touch with a small group of friends I don't see that often. So now back to the blogging...
Here's a quick thought before I turn in for the night: Quarterly goals are hugely important. Without them, any fledgling venture can fall victim to what I'll call the "roadside litter" problem.
Here's what I mean by that: The world is full of shiny objects. It's easy to let them distract you. It's easy to say, "No, no, no THIS is the THING!" and thereby let a shiny object rope you in. It occupies you until you see another, and then you abandon that last thing for the latest thing...so the previous thing becomes a piece of discarded, roadside litter. Rinse, repeat.
So that's why the quarterly goal thing is so critical. Assuming you're on calendar year quarters, this is the halfway point for Q3. Whatever your team said mattered in late June MUST still matter (c'mon, it was practically yesterday), so the important thing to do is execute.
Got good ideas? Save 'em for the review at the end of September. Ice 'em until Q4.
Oh, and to the degree you can, formulate your goals in ways that quantifiable and clearly measurable. If you say, "Do more business development" then it's just too much of a softball to check the box, or turn that part of your spreadsheet green.
Instead, say something like, "Make 200 more cold calls," or "Complete __ % of project," etc. You'll know you either did it, or didn't. At that point, it's not always about meeting everything 100%. If your entire spreadsheet is green, maybe it means you didn't push yourself enough -- supposedly even Google only expects 70 percent completion of its OKRs (Objectives and Key Results).
But more important than the issue of where to set the bar, just be sure to set it in a clearly measurable way. To take it away from business for a second, say "Lose 10 pounds" instead of "take the stairs more." With the former, you might *miss* your goal but still come away better for it...maybe you dropped 7. But with the latter, it's too easy to just sort of shrug your shoulders and say, "Yeah, I guess that happened."
I love to write, and I don't care how many times I've said it -- I love the way this blog sort of passively keeps me in touch with a small group of friends I don't see that often. So now back to the blogging...
Here's a quick thought before I turn in for the night: Quarterly goals are hugely important. Without them, any fledgling venture can fall victim to what I'll call the "roadside litter" problem.
Here's what I mean by that: The world is full of shiny objects. It's easy to let them distract you. It's easy to say, "No, no, no THIS is the THING!" and thereby let a shiny object rope you in. It occupies you until you see another, and then you abandon that last thing for the latest thing...so the previous thing becomes a piece of discarded, roadside litter. Rinse, repeat.
So that's why the quarterly goal thing is so critical. Assuming you're on calendar year quarters, this is the halfway point for Q3. Whatever your team said mattered in late June MUST still matter (c'mon, it was practically yesterday), so the important thing to do is execute.
Got good ideas? Save 'em for the review at the end of September. Ice 'em until Q4.
Oh, and to the degree you can, formulate your goals in ways that quantifiable and clearly measurable. If you say, "Do more business development" then it's just too much of a softball to check the box, or turn that part of your spreadsheet green.
Instead, say something like, "Make 200 more cold calls," or "Complete __ % of project," etc. You'll know you either did it, or didn't. At that point, it's not always about meeting everything 100%. If your entire spreadsheet is green, maybe it means you didn't push yourself enough -- supposedly even Google only expects 70 percent completion of its OKRs (Objectives and Key Results).
But more important than the issue of where to set the bar, just be sure to set it in a clearly measurable way. To take it away from business for a second, say "Lose 10 pounds" instead of "take the stairs more." With the former, you might *miss* your goal but still come away better for it...maybe you dropped 7. But with the latter, it's too easy to just sort of shrug your shoulders and say, "Yeah, I guess that happened."
