Goal Setting: A Plan to Avoid Failure….

Goal Setting: A Plan to Avoid Failure….

Somebody has rightly said that, “Failing to Plan is the same as Planning to Fail”. The sole reason for life is to achieve a goal, be it financial, career, family or social

What is a Goal?

The end toward which effort is directed. Goals are dreams and wants except a goal is more specific.

The Purpose of Goals

The purpose of goals is to give you something that you want to enhance your life in some way, so the most important thing you need to know about goals is that you ought to have some.

Types of Goals

Long Term Goals:
10-year, 5-year and 1-year goals

Short Term Goals:
goals for the next 9 months, 6 months and 3 months

Immediate Goals:
1-30 days from now

"TIME IS LIFE. TO WASTE YOUR TIME IS TO WASTE YOUR LIFE; TO MANAGE YOUR TIME IS TO MANAGE YOUR LIFE." -- ALAN LAKEIN

How to Set Goals

Learning how to set goals is as important as knowing what the goal should contain.  What’s important to remember about setting goals is the correct F.R.A.M.E. of mind.  What is meant by “frame of mind?”  Each letter in the word “frame” illustrates the following:

F.R.A.M.E

Fantasize - Dream your wildest dreams and make sure that your goals match your values. Ask yourself: what do you want to be doing in 1 year? 5 years? What kind of person do I want to be?

Reality - Fantasies can become reality, depending on how hard you are willing to work for them.

Aim - Define your goal(s) by striking a balance between Fantasy and Reality; set a high but realistic goal.

Method – Be truthful to yourself by narrowing your choices or goals to the ones you really intend to accomplish.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Evaluation - Process the results, but don’t make it the last step; evaluation should be on going.

Goal setting works!!!!!!

Goal setting helps you to identify what you want to accomplish and find a way to do it.

5 Qualities of Effective Goals

S.M.A.R.T.

Before you begin your goal setting process it is important to know what qualities your goals should embody. Effective goals have three important qualities. They are realistic, measurable, and reviewed.

SPECIFIC

The Goal should be SPECIFIC enough so that we know exactly for what we are striving.

MEASURABLE

A goal must be MEASURABLE. It should have concrete facts. You should be able to answer very specifically, when and how you will know you attained your goal.

ACTION ORIENTED

ACTION-ORIENTED,  declaring positive activity that will produce results.

REALISTIC

A goal must be REALISTIC. Challenging yourself is an important part of goal setting. You want to aim high; however, you also need to be realistic.

TANGIBLE

TANGIBLE meaning concrete and not vague.

Goals must also be…

REVIEWED

Finally, a goal must be REVIEWED.

Share your goals with friends and family members who care about your success. Pick one of these persons who will hold you accountable in addition to yourself. In the meantime, remind yourself regularly of the goals you have set for yourself.

Steps Toward Setting Effective Goals

" THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CLEAR AND CENTRAL PURPOSE OR GOAL IN LIFE IS THE STARTING POINT OF ALL SUCCESS." -- BRIAN TRACY

1. Set Goals

Identify what is important to you. What do you want to accomplish?

2. Identify possible strategies or objectives to reach each goal.

Make a list of what you feel are the best and most effective ways of reaching the goals you have already identified.

3. Select the best strategies

Now that you have made a list of several ways to achieve your goal, recognize which of these strategies will work best for you.

4. Outline specific plans to accomplish each strategy.

Once you have narrowed down your strategy list, you can begin to make very detailed and specific plans to accomplish each strategy and ultimately reach your goal.

Once we have a well-formed Goal Statement we need some direction to follow to achieve this Goal.

"AN UNWRITTEN WANT IS A WISH, A DREAM, A NEVER HAPPEN. THE DAY YOU PUT YOUR GOAL IN WRITING IS THE DAY IT BECOMES A COMMITMENT THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. ARE YOU READY?" - TOM HOPKINS

Setting goals is a means of identifying and plotting how you are going to achieve your aims in life. By writing down your goals you are committing yourself to accomplishing them; therefore, make sure that your goals are important to YOU!!!!!

Motivation

Motivation and commitment are what make us strive to achievement. They give us the push, desire, and resolve to complete all of the other steps in the Goal process.

This motivation can be obtained by developing a personal statement that creates a high level of emotion and energy that guarantees achievement.

Motivation Story

Once Jamsetji Tata was not allowed in a Five Star Hotel in Mumbai, in future he went on to Build Hotel Taj, a monumental building.  The motivation of being asked to leave the hotel provided the necessary fuel for him to achieve this goal.

Commitment

Commitment creates more accountability and is what sets us on direct course to reach our goals. It may create costly negative consequences upon failure to attain a goal.

Making a commitment might be something like having invested your savings in your new business which you will lose if it fails. Motivation and commitment are specific to your situation and life and only you can form statements that will ensure you reach your goal the quickest.

The more personal you make your motivation and commitment statements for each goal, the more motivated you will be to accomplish your goal.

BE FLEXIBLE

Be ready to re-adjust your goals and not give up on them. If they are too easy, they won't be worthwhile, and if they are too tough, and you will start thinking that the idea of goal setting is worthless. Remember, small victories lead to big successes.

Why Goals Fail

Ø  The goal was not written down.

Ø  Rewards for achieving the goals were not given.

Ø  The goal was unrealistic or not specific enough.

Ø  The goal is not really believable or little commitment exists.

Ø  Keep changing or switching goals with the weather

Ø  The person who set the goal has not told anyone else for added accountability, help and support.

Ø  The goal was not incorporated into a realistic plan that includes measurements, timelines and resources.

The Benefits of Setting Goals

Ø  Suffer less from stress and anxiety

Ø  Concentrate better

Ø  Show more self-confidence

Ø  Perform better

Ø  Are happier

Pygmalion Effect in the Teaching Profession....

Pygmalion Effect in the context of Education

In the Lecture of Dr. Mandi, teaching methodology takes its new level altogether. This gives students the chance to explore and achieve a new level. I would like talk about how the teaching can be changed with the help of the some tools.

It's a fact. Limited expectations bring limited results, high expectations lead to exceptional results. The phenomenon is known as the Pygmalion Effect and it has been documented numerous times in both business and education.

In the video, trainees get a complete overview of the Pygmalion Effect of scenes from the classic movie "Pygmalion," where individuals are transformed through the positive (or negative) expectations of another. The four ways managers transmit expectations to their subordinates - climate, feedback, input and output.

There is a need for the managers to:

• Understand how positive/negative expectations create self-fulfilling prophecies
• Develop the skills to positively influence co-workers and subordinates
• Raise the expectations they have for their staff members
• Believe more in their own ability to positively influence and lead others

I would like to relate this effect to the teaching methodology, as it is one of the primary area where the child can be developed for a great future. In the context of teaching, many scientists had done research. In The Skilful Teacher: Building your Teaching Skills, Saphier &Gower (1997) offer six desirable qualities for the communication of expectations: 

 

Teaching Methodology with Strict Approach

1. Direct: The expectation is explicitly brought to student's attention, usually verbally 

2. Specific: The details of the expectation for students' performance are clearly stated or otherwise specified in the communication (which may be written or not verbal) 

3. Repeated: The expectation is repeated often to make sure students absorb it. 

4. Positive expectancy: The statement of expectation has a "you can do it" flavour.

5. Modelled: The teacher performs the behaviour as a model of what do. 

6. Tenacity: The teacher is repetitious and consistent in their expectations of the student. 

Reaserchers had also tried to find out the ways for implementing the effect in actual teaching and come out with some solutions. One of the researcher had given some really practical solutions.

To maximize positive expectations and reduce negative expectations Brophy (1983) suggests seven teaching strategies. The seven teaching strategies are as follows:

1. Concentrate on how to teach the content to the class or group as a whole, rather than worry too much about individual differences

2. Keep expectations for individual current by monitoring their progress closely; stress present performance over past history

3. Set goals for the group and for individuals in terms of minimally acceptable standards; let group progress rates, rather than limits adopted arbitrarily in advance, determine how far the group can go within the time available.

4. In individualizing instruction and giving students feedback about performance, stress continuous progress relative to previous levels of mastery rather than normative comparison or comparisons between individuals. In planning and delivering instruction, concentrate on students' present levels of understanding and mastery and their implications for present instructional needs, rather than on who the students are individually and how they are doing relative to one another.

5. In giving students feedback, stress the provision of informative information, and not merely evaluation of success or failure

6. When students have not understood an explanation or demonstration, think in terms of diagnosing their learning difficulty and following through by breaking down the task or re teaching it in a different way, rather than merely repeating the same instruction or giving up in frustration .

 7. In general, think in terms of stretching them and encouraging them to achieve as much as they can, and not in terms of "protecting" them from failure or embarrassment.

Following these suggestions creates an environment where students know what is expected of them and have confidence that the teacher believes that they can meet teacher expectations with success

Theory X and Theory Y

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Every Person in this world has different needs and desires. Similarly every person has different motivation to go to work each morning. Some people get satisfaction from their work and take great pride in it; Others may view it as a burden, and simply work to survive. 

Human motivation is studied by many Management Gurus for long periods, to identify the rightful approach to human behavior. Social psychologist Douglas McGregor of MIT proposed two contrasting theories on human motivation and management in the 1960s: The X Theory and the Y Theory. 

The theories helps manager's to think about what motivates his or her team members affects the way he or she behaves. By understanding root cause about employees’ motivation can influence your management style.

Theory X

Theory X assumes that employees are naturally unmotivated and dislike working, and this encourages an authoritarian style of management. 

According to this view, management must actively intervene to get things done. This style of management assumes that workers:

• Dislike working.
• Avoid responsibility and need to be directed.
• Have to be controlled, forced, and threatened to deliver what's needed.
• Need to be supervised at every step, with controls put in place.
• Need to be enticed to produce results; otherwise they have no ambition or incentive to work.

X-Type organizations tend to be top heavy, with managers and supervisors required at every step to control workers. There is little delegation of authority and control remains firmly centralized.

Theory Y

Theory Y expounds a participative style of management that is de-centralized. It assumes that employees are happy to work, are self-motivated and creative, and enjoy working with greater responsibility. It assumes that workers:

• Take responsibility and are motivated to fulfill the goals they are given.
• Seek and accept responsibility and do not need much direction.
• Consider work as a natural part of life and solve work problems imaginatively.

This more participative management style tends to be more widely applicable.

Theory X and Theory Y

• Motivation
  Theory X assumes that people dislike work; they want to avoid it and do not want to take responsibility. Theory Y assumes that people are self-motivated, and thrive on responsibility.
• Management Style and Control
  In a Theory X organization, management is authoritarian, and centralized control is retained, whilst in Theory Y, the management style is participative: Management involves employees in decision making, but retains power to implement decisions.                                      
  
                                       

According to Theory X & Y,

1) Manager can think workers as of 2 types – Lazy one and Not Lazy.

Lazy workers don't like to work by them selves and have negative attitude. Not Lazy type of workers do the assigned tasks to them and go beyond the routine work. they have positive mindset about work and always keen to achieve the targets.

2) MANAGERS are of 2 types – X & Y

X thinks negatively and assumes workers are Lazy one, and Y thinks positively and considers his workers are Not Lazy.

This led to four type of organizational teams:

No.	Managers	Workers	Working Scenario
1	X	Lazy	It is dangerous for an organization
2	X	Good	It is Most dangerous for an organization
3	Y	Lazy	Organization can do better with this type of team
4	Y	Good	This type of team give best results

      

      This can be represented pictorially 

Q1)    Theory X Manager assumes LAZY Worker as LAZY:

This case manager will justify that the workers are not performing well and will be very strict in his approach. For organisation betterment he will use strict actions against the workers and will try to make them perform.

Q2)    Theory X Manager assumes NOT LAZY worker as LAZY:

Manager assumes wrongly that employee to be insincere but who is hard working and act strictly with him.

Q3)    Theory Y Manager assumes LAZY worker as NOT LAZY:

The manager assumes that the workers are working hard but in real case they are lazy. This poses a dangerous situation. The workers are only projecting that they are working to their managers. This could lead to deteriorating performance of the company.

Q4)    Theory Y Manager assumes NOT LAZY worker as NOT LAZY:

This is a perfect match for the organisation. As the workers are actually working in the interest of the organisation and getting compensated and acknowledged by the manager increases their level and motivation and belongingness for the organisation.

In my company, on the construction site for workers I used to use Theory Y manager rather than the usual approach of Theory X on construction site.

I would like to see myself in the Fourth Quadrant in any company that I work with. This retains the best of the person who is working for the company and benefits to every one.

Evolution from Craftsmanship to Orgnisation: Tower Building Exercise

Two years MBA journey began with the very first lecture with Dr. Prasad who is also known as Dr. Mundi. In the First Lecture I got the hint that he is a different kind of Professor, who intrigues his students to think beyond the bookish knowledge and try to look things in a practical perspective. He asked us to write a blog about the learning's in the classroom like our seniors did. I was very much engrossed with the idea, as I have always wanted to write a blog but due to my laziness or procrastination habit I always missed the golden opportunity. Finally, due to the external force applied by Dr. Mundi, my voyage to the blogging world has started.

I was eagerly waiting for the second session.As expected it was one of its kind session. Today, Dr. Mundi has come with a new teaching tool. He gave the small cube to us, while he was explaining the task. The task was to arrange the cubes as a building block for creating a tower. Most amazing part of the exercise was to bid for making the tower in front of the whole batch of aspiring COOs. After three rounds of bidding the deal was settled for 500 Rs. Lesson Learnt: You have to take the risk to gain something. This showed the appetite for risk is necessary in this competitive environment.

Dr. Mundi Explaining the Tower Building exercise

The task of building the tower started. The builder could make the tower of 12 blocks. After poking by Prof. he could again add 4 pieces to that tower. This showed the content nature of the person. Actually this is true for every person. Due to the conservatism we doesn't expose ourselves to dangerous and risky positions. This restricts our best to come out.

Next part was to learn about the difference between the Craftsmanship and the organization. The craftsmanship like the tower building exercise don't require management as it is based on once skills.

Can we have 2000 people for making single tower?
This question really got my basics cleared. In the organization there should be work for everybody and it should be Meaningful. 
The Job satisfaction is high in case of Craftsmanship wherein in an organization level it varies.

The clear difference:
Craftsmanship: No organization, no Management
Organization: Objectives, performance and Results