It's time to question the unquestioned ritual of setting annual goals. They have three flaws.
Most worlds change more on a tempo of every couple quarters, making annual goals more speculative than realistic
When people feel that they only need to pay attention to the short term, they will declare the most uninspiring goals possible
Many times these are abandoned because they compete with the demands of everyday business
My experience has been that it's better to set two year success indicators, and then translate these in agile two quarter progress indicators that take the form of projects. People vision with more passion the further out they declare the possibilities they would love to achieve. Going out further gives success indicators more of the feel of lenses that more clearly reveal opportunities and possibilities in the present. This keeps them agile.
We then assign time invested in each project that aligns with the actual amount of time we can make available from the business of everyday business.
This keeps everyone inspired, realistic and productive.
