Effectual Goals: The method to set goals without imposing them

What if we changed our point of view? Traditional management often dictates objectives, which can lead to resignation by those tasked to achieve them. The Effectual Goals method, however, can get a group of people to identify and agree on a common goal and start working towards it in just a few hours.

“20% more here, 5% less there”, management by objectives is everywhere in our organisations. But this traditional, often top-down approach has its limits: lack of buy-in, loss of meaning, demotivation… Several problems arise with “classic” objective-setting methods practised in most organisations. They are:

often decided and dictated by management, without really taking into account the expectations of the teams;
driven by external imperatives (competition, market opportunities, etc.) rather than by an internal vision;
fragmented and siloed, with no overall vision, each individual focuses only on “their” objective;
perceived as orders, which can be demotivating and lead to a loss of meaning;
at odds with the means and resources actually available.

In short, in many cases, objectives and goals divide more than they unite, failing to galvanise employees.

Another way

There’s another way: the Effectual Goals method. It reverses the traditional method’s logic, starting with individual aspirations to reach a common, unifying goal.

We tested this approach with CoP-1, a non-profit organisation that agreed to take part in the exercise. Founded in 2003, CoP-1 provides a space where employees of large companies who are interested in the concept of Knowledge Management (KM) can come together as a community to share best practices.

The association’s new president decided to use our method to better discover, understand and share the expectations of its current members.

The Effectual Goals method, the power of Collective Intelligence

At the heart of this method is co-construction. The aim is to give everyone a chance to express their goals and aspirations, then derive an ultimate, common goal out of it.

In practice, there are 4 stages to this process:

Have the members of the organisation express their “desirable future” without limitations. At CoP-1, this resulted in 77 goals being collected!
Map the links between these different goals to create “effectual goal trees”. In this “effectual” logic, goals are no longer considered in isolation, but as means to one or more other goals. For example, one member’s goal to “exchange best practices” supports another member’s goal to “learn from the experience of others”.
Identify the “ultimate goal” based on the goal trees resulting from step 2, by identifying the common denominator of all aspirations. This becomes the unifying purpose that sets the course.
Assess available means and resources, and see what is doable short-term to start moving in the desired direction.

All for One and One for All

At CoP-1, this group work led to the emergence of a common vision, formulated as follows: “To help each other, as a community of KM practitioners, to develop, improve and disseminate KM approaches and systems that create value for our members, our organisations and our ecosystems.” In short: build a community of mutual help to better spread Knowledge Management.

This is a goal that everyone can get behind, because it is built on the aspirations of all members.

But what is the point of setting goals if the means to achieve them are not available? At CoP-1, a list of actionable steps in the short-term was drawn: organise internal and external training and conferences, develop partnerships, produce publications, recruit new members… These actions are all the more meaningful because they are focused on a clear, common direction.

This experiment with Effectual Goals resulted in some immediate benefits for CoP-1:

an understanding of the reasons for joining the association,
a common goal revealed rather than imposed, making each member feel part of the collective,
decision-making on priorities in light of this ultimate goal, particularly during the subsequent General Meeting,
having a simple, unified way of presenting the association (the ultimate goal is now mentioned on the CoP-1 website),
bringing together a wide range of members (with very different company sizes and activities) around a common workshop to define the association’s goals,
the realisation that there are already many resources available.

The whole process took less than three hours. While the method does shake up the habits of its users and requires a period of adjustment, it also opens up exciting new prospects. It gives people a voice, starts with individuals, and fosters the emergence of a shared, inspiring vision. This opens the door to an alternative to management by objectives, to restore meaning and increase employee buy-in.