TBM 41/51: Why Goal Cascades are Harmful (and What to Do Instead)

At a very high level, what we are doing here is decoupling goal setting from the org chart and org hierarchy while grounding it in a universally accepted model. Goals should form a network because models tend to create a network. It isn’t completely flat because there are relationships. But the dimensionality is much more centered around inputs/out... See more

Goal cascades meet internal needs, not customer needs. They meet the requirement for a planning process at the expense of catalyzing congruence across the organization. Ditch the cascade. Create models. Set goals wherever it makes sense to set goals.

Goal setting framework:1) Create a model that maps the drivers of your business. This model should be agnostic to anything you have on your roadmap. To reiterate, this is entirely agnostic to tactics.2) Add measurement to that model.3) Prioritize points of leverage. We might consider these high-level opportunities.4) Identify goals for those points... See more