I like any article that asks business people to put more emphasis on the ...in exchange for what? part of decision-making. That's something I have to repeat oft

I like any article that asks business people to put more emphasis on the ...in exchange for what? part of decision-making. That's something I have to repeat often. "I get that you want us to pursue this new thing, but what would you like to sacrifice to reclaim resources for it? My recommendation would be this, but I want us to agree before proceeding." This article tangents another huge problem with goal-setting, though: they focus on outcome, not behaviour. - You can control behaviour, but outcome is often to a large extent determined by external factors. You cannot will external forces into your bidding by setting a goal. - If you just miss a goal, you've still done an amazing job -- but you're still considered to have failed to accomplish what you set out to. Goals promote a binary view of success that has little connection to reality. - If you meet a goal, you have succeeded and can only harm yourself by doing more work. Exceeding your goals lead to even more unrealistic goals in the future. - If you know ahead of time it will be impossible to meet a goal, you have little reason to continue because you will fail anyway. The two last points mean goals are effectively an excuse to stop doing the right thing. - Outcomes (and therefore goals) are often lagging indicators. Even though you've made great progress in shifting course, your past momentum in the wrong direction carrying over can make it look like outcomes are still getting worse. - In trying to satisfy goal-setters, when outcomes aren't directly controllable, people find the other thing that can be controlled: the measurement process. There are a million subtle ways for someone under a goal to put a thumb on the scale to meet the goal although nothing material has changed. Edit: I forgot: goals are almost always focused on the short term. You can meet them by trading off long term success for short term success and indeed this is what people do.