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Why should your target be ''measurable'', other than because the institution bearing down on you needs some way of assessing it in a binary way? But (again, following James Scott’s reasoning) these SMART goals then create perverse incentives, for employees know they are measured and rated only what can be read, so deprioritise “illegible” good behaviour, in favour of measurable [[box-ticking]]. | Why should your target be ''measurable'', other than because the institution bearing down on you needs some way of assessing it in a binary way? But (again, following James Scott’s reasoning) these SMART goals then create perverse incentives, for employees know they are measured and rated only what can be read, so deprioritise “illegible” good behaviour, in favour of measurable [[box-ticking]]. | ||
===The utopia of goals=== | |||
The JC has written a bit about the allure and basic incoherence of [[utopianism]]. Utopia makes a few basic but essentially delusional assumptions about the world, such as that not only can it be solved, but that our enlightened, scientific method, it ''is'' being, incrementally, solved. Seen this way, (well-directed) goals are a tool in the enlightenment kit for delivering that final {{strike|entropic|blissful}} state. This is, of course, a form of pound-shop utopianism, suffering from all the usual confirmation biases: (goals didn’t pan out? Can’t have been well enough directed. Can’t have been properly executed). No circumstances can falsify the working assumption that it is only human frailty which keeps us from our nirvana. | |||
===Or systems?=== | ===Or systems?=== | ||
[[Scott Adams]] has written a bit on goals. Among his observations: on the day you set a goal, you are failing it. You continue to fail at it until the point you achieve it, at which point, it is finished: now what? It gives no guide to future action. It is better, thinks Adams, to create behavioural systems which are designed to yield positive effects: rather than a goal of "be selected for the national team," go for "spend an hour each day practicing a sport I enjoy". Here you can succeed from the get go, reap benefits that are tangential to that idealised state (fitness, experiences, meeting new people etc), and you can use what you learn to dynamically adjust your pattern of behaviour to meet changing circumstances. If it should turn out you don't like cricket that much, or grow more interested in pursuing sports psychology - you can adapt your system on the fly. | [[Scott Adams]] has written a bit on goals. Among his observations: on the day you set a goal, you are failing it. You continue to fail at it until the point you achieve it, at which point, it is finished: now what? It gives no guide to future action. It is better, thinks Adams, to create behavioural systems which are designed to yield positive effects: rather than a goal of "be selected for the national team," go for "spend an hour each day practicing a sport I enjoy". Here you can succeed from the get go, reap benefits that are tangential to that idealised state (fitness, experiences, meeting new people etc), and you can use what you learn to dynamically adjust your pattern of behaviour to meet changing circumstances. If it should turn out you don't like cricket that much, or grow more interested in pursuing sports psychology - you can adapt your system on the fly. | ||