GOALS vs OBJECTIVES

Donald P. Gage, D.Mn.

President, SDI Associates

February 11, 2007

One client put it best:  when he understood the difference between goals and objectives, he learned how to get where he wanted to go.  How so?

He knew that he needed goals and objectives, but these were indistinguishable.  Everything was a fuzzy sort of result.  And too often he couldn’t see what he needed to do to get there.

Another client, a corporate executive trained in MBO (Management By Objectives) echoed that experience.  Goals and objectives had never been clearly differentiated.  Once he understood the action nature of objectives, action became more of a focus, and he accomplished more.

It’s natural their perspectives had been confused.  The literature on the subject and daily usage tends to be all over the place.  For example, Rick Pitino, in SUCCESS IS A CHOICE, writes, “In order to make real steps toward fulfilling our ultimate, big, splashy dreams, we have to start with concrete objectives.  These are our goals.”

In no less an authority as the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MANAGEMENT, we read:

At this level, MBO requires senior management to develop clear, long-range organizational objectives.  Mid-level management then uses these objectives to form appropriate shorter-range objectives.  In turn, these become the basis for the traditional manager-employee MBO discussion and individual goal-setting.  Conducted properly, this cascading process insures that objectives at different levels of the organization and within different groups mesh together, and result in the attainment of the firm’s overall goals.  (Underlining added)

[Various levels of objectives seem to cascade down to lower-level goals, and this helps to achieve overall goals.]

Clarity in the use of terms like “goals” and “objectives” is important, and is not easy to find in management literature.  Even in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an Objective is “something toward which effort is directed : an aim, goal, or end of action.”  Wiktionary defines an Objective as “A goal that is striven for.”  (Underlining added)

There does, however, seem to be some leaning toward considering goals to be the direction toward which we are striving.  According to Merriam-Webster, a Goal is “the end toward which effort is directed.”  In Wiktionary, a Goal is “A result one is attempting to achieve.”

Stephen Covey, in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, counts as one of the key principles, “Begin with the End in Mind.”  This is reflected in the mission statement, and is identified with our goals.

Our approach begins with the premise that in the business of planning and time management, clarity between goals and objectives is critical.  We define goals and objectives the way we do because it is practical and useful.

What are these definitions?

GOALS = DESIRED RESULTS

OBJECTIVES = ACTIONS TO GET THERE

 Once a vision or mission is determined on the basis of core values, then we have to determine the results we wish to achieve.  These are our goals.

If we stop there, we may know the general direction we’re headed, but we’re half-baked and still flying by the seat of our pants.

The next step is to plot the stepping stones that will, in our experience and belief, take us to our goals.  These are our objectives.

Objectives are actions that are directly within our control.  Goals may not be, except as they are realized by our objectives.

Note that many things show characteristics of both results and actions, and hence could be called either goals or objectives.  An appointment is both something we do and a result.  The action part is in our control (we can show up).  The result part depends on others (they must agree to see us and they must show up as well).

For management purposes, it is important to have clear objectives that are within our control.  Thus, I prefer to call an appointment a goal, not an objective.  In sales, an objective of 20 appointments a month leaves the salesperson too dependent on others for its attainment.  Making 200 dials, on the other hand, is entirely different.  Either you do it, or you don’t.

The reason the degree of control is so important, is that the word “objective” implies, to me, a sense of obligation and accountability.  If you don’t have control over something, how can you be held accountable for it?

Also, results (goals) are often like locks, not low-hanging fruit waiting to be plucked.  If we want to open them, we have to have keys.  Only our actions can do this – that’s the role of objectives.

Put another way, goals are those things we want.  Objectives are those things we commit to.

For effective time management, we start with our goals and identify the results we want to achieve.  Then we determine the actions we must take – these are our objectives.