Goals

I had an interesting presentation this morning to my team. I was articulating our YTD results based on the goals that we had agreed upon at the start of the year. We met almost all the goals and I presented a "improved challenge" (management speak) to the team which they gladly accepted (more on MOTIVATION in another blog)

Once we were done, I was thinking about "RESULTS". We always want "good" results. We never want "bad" results. So then why do we even want to call them results and not call them as goals. Maybe it is just semantics but think about it: You have a problem, you have a solution. You have an issue, you have a resolution. You have a risk, you have a mitigation. However, in case of a GOAL - you have a RESULT.

Next time around, I believe that we need to set-up an objective (of meeting a target) and then measure the result rather than use GOAL as the objective of achieving something because you can achieve quantify an objective but can you quantify a goal? Think about it!

Shift

Every era is marked by a fundamental shift - In power, In Economy, In technology. This new era is exactly what you say about it being a global, borderless community. We need to take a step back and analyze that why there has been a shift in the "power-bases" as have rightly pointed. It is the burning desire (if I may) about the "have-nots" to succeed. This is not just relevant in the global IT ecosystem. It is across countries, cultures, industries and economies.

Now, is this a good thing or a bad thing? I believe that it is good (a challenge is always good) because when we feel that we are not in the driver's seat anymore we tend to re-focus on our core competencies. We tend to look at what can we do better (see the theme of the burning desire to succeed) and therefore we innovate. Yes, the transition is difficult to deliver results almost immediately however during the transition we need to ignore the noise (outsource / job-loss etc.) and focus on what we can do the best - become the center of global IT. That should be the goal.

There can we a number of various strategies to achieve this goal however I feel the primary strategy should be coopetition. Think about it !