Goal Setting in Business and Sport - The Individual Versus the Team

By Hans Bool

By defining a (personal) goal you compel yourself to answer the question; "what do I want to achieve?" Business is often compared with sport and similarities are indeed striking. For instance, both are dealing the concept of "a goal."

Defining a goal for a game of soccer seems easy; it is just to win, or to score four a five "goals." But is it really that simple? What happens if we look beyond the goal or target for a complete team. How should we define a goal for the individual player?

Let’s focus on a 3-4-3 setting. There are three "attackers," four midfielders and three defenders. And let's not forget the goalkeeper.

To start with the former, the “goal” of the goalkeeper is to stop all counter attacks. To put it more concrete you could leave him with the target to let pass zero shots...

The target for the defenders is also to stop all attacks but in the same time to provide five to ten (exemplary) opportunities as counters or passes to mid fields.

Defining a goal for the mid fields is already harder. "Give ten or what passes to attackers?"

And than after the game the evaluation starts. Why didn't we win? Because that's why you set goals to be able to evaluate.

Player number one - why didn't you score?

“I was not given an opportunity.”

Midfields – why…? "Sir (Madam), we…"

Defence? … Goal Keeper?

Yeah right, when a team loses, it's the goalkeeper that is to blame -- it's his target, at least the most visible of all targets.

In business it is not easier to define goals, yet without them you can not really play at all...

© 2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management tools. Have a look at some of our free management tools

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