Useful Goals vs. Useless Goals

A goal is “useful” if it meets the following criteria:

• Memorable and easy to understand
• Objectively assessable / unambiguous
• Possible given the laws of physics: A stretch, but still doable in principle.
• Motivating and inspiring
• Grounded in something concrete in the real world: Ideally tied to a customer outcome.

Conversely, a goal is “not useful” if it:

• Unrealistic: The team knows it’s not possible.
• Subjective: The team cannot agree on how to measure progress, leading to internal problems.
• Irrelevant: The goal doesn’t matter or is non-sequitur (e.g., “user logins” is often a goal that feels good to achieve but doesn’t actually matter).

It’s easy to fall into the trap of setting “not useful” goals. Many leaders underestimate how difficult it is to consistently set good goals quickly.

Common Pitfalls Example: A Not Useful Goal

Read the below example…would you say this goal is useful or not useful?

How did you come to your answer?

Goal: Ship multiplayer mode for teams to collaborate faster together.
Success Metric: Close the sales gap.        

This goal, while well-intended, lacks clarity and focus. Here’s why:

• Too vague: The goal “Ship multiplayer mode” is desirable because it’s supposed to help close a sales gap. However, it doesn’t specify what “faster collaboration” means or how it will be measured.
• Ambiguous success: “Close the sales gap??” WTF does that even mean?? Tighten this up to be clear and unambiguous (quantifiable ideally but unambiguous is non-optional)
• Misalignment between goal and success: The goal focuses on a product feature, but the success metric is tied to business outcomes. There’s no clear connection between shipping the feature and closing the sales gap.

How to Improve It

Instead of “Ship multiplayer mode,” try this:

Goal (improved): Ensure that “multiplayer mode” is not included in the sales team’s Top 10 Lost Deal Reasons by Oct 31. Ship the feature to end users by the general availability release on Oct 3, send marketing release notes on Oct 4, and conduct sales and customer success training on Oct 5 and Oct 6.        

Why Is This More Useful?

• Clear problem statement and business impact: The goal addresses a specific issue?—?removing “multiplayer mode” as a reason for lost deals. This directly ties the feature to business success.
• Time-bound and specific milestones: The goal includes a clear deadline and concrete dates for actions like shipping the feature and training the teams.
• Outcome-oriented: The focus shifts from shipping a feature to addressing a pain point, making it a more meaningful measure of success.
• Measurable: Success is defined as removing “multiplayer mode” from the Top 10 Lost Deal Reasons, which is specific and trackable.
• Cross-functional alignment: The goal incorporates marketing, product, and sales teams, ensuring that all parts of the organization are aligned toward the same objective.

Conclusion

Defining useful goals is an essential skill for any team or leader. A useful goal is clear, measurable, motivating, and aligned with real-world outcomes. While it takes practice to set these goals consistently, doing so can drive your team toward meaningful and impactful success.

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Thanks for reading !! If you found this post useful, you might also enjoy these:

• Why “WHY YOU SHOULD NOT JOIN Y COMBINATOR” indicates small-minded thinking
• Lessons from ‘Failure’ in Startups
• Compliance Maze: Choose Quality Over Convenience

I work with a small number of founders / CEOs–book a 1:1 w/ me to talk about your startup (or moral philosophy or extreme sports) intro.co/austinogilvie ?? ??