A key principle essential for successful goal setting
Two models for creating a gameplan to reach large, ambitious goals from the worlds of Michael Phelps and Intel
Summer, 2013. Bob Bowman, coach of the world’s greatest (recently retired) swimmer, receives a text:
“Let's have dinner soon. MP”
Michael Phelps had retired at the end of the London 2012 Olympics only the year before. Bowman had been living a simpler life since then. He’d taken well earned time off away from the scrutiny and pressure that came with coaching one of the best athletes of all time.
That dinner was about to change all that.
August 2016, three years later. Tears stream down Phelp’s face as he salutes a crowd in Rio before his 23rd gold medal is placed around his neck.
November 1979. Andy Grove, CEO of Intel, receives an urgent message that Motorola’s new microprocessor was smashing theirs. Within 2 weeks a taskforce was established to map out their response. Jim Lally, Grove’s right-hand man, laid out their goal:
“We have to kill Motorola, that’s the name of the game.
We have to crush the f — king bastards.”
December 1980. One year later. Intel’s ‘operation crush’ had namely, indeed “crushed the f — king bastards”.
Although Phelps and Intel have little in common, what these stories share is the use of a key principle: set short term goals for long term success.
Here’s a breakdown of how this principle was used by both and more importantly, how you can apply it to your own goals:
“The game plan”
In his book The Golden Rules:10 steps to world-class excellence in your life and work, Bowman describes his goal-setting process in the lead up to an Olympic Games.
He and Phelps would start at the Olympics, 1,068 days away and work backwards, plotting out what the major goals were that he would need to reach in the lead-up, continuing to break these goals down further until he would know:
“everything (he) would need to do and every mark (he) would need to nail over the next three years.”
These plans would be as detailed as what times Phelps be hitting at each of his lead-up events, how many miles he would be swim each day/week/month and what he’d be doing in each workout. For the next three years.
For Phelps, this method was a pillar of his success since the age of 15. By this stage, it was second nature. Between them, Phelps and Bowman mapped out his comeback journey to Rio in 2016 and goal by goal, they worked toward achieving his ambitious vision.
It worked out pretty well.
How you can apply it:
Best used for your personal goals and ambitions.
- Start with your vision; a large, ambitious goal that you want to work towards. This vision should make you excited, passionate, keen to get after it.
- Work your way back from there; what would be needed to make that vision a reality? Visualise what steps you would need to take to get there; what smaller goals would be absolutely essential for you to achieve along the way?
- Keep breaking these goals down until you have actionable items that you can mark off daily, such as how many laps of a pool you’re going to swim or how many hours you’ll spend studying a particular topic.
- Live your vision: Make those daily action items your habits; use your vision to inspire you to make them a part of your life.
Objectives, key results (OKRs)
The model that Intel used to crush Motorola is still used today, becoming central to the success of Google, Youtube and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to name a few. Pioneered by Intel’s CEO Andy Grove and amplified by his protege John Doer, who wrote the book on it, the OKR model is simple to learn, yet hard to master.
Objective: the large, ambitious goal that you or your team want to achieve.
Key results: A maximum of 5 sub-goals that if achieved will lead to the completion of the objective. These should be very specific, measurable and known to all members of your team. These are your short-term goals.
In comparison to ‘the game plan’, OKRs are more suited to teams or organisations, as they allow for unification towards a common goal and allow for the greater flexibility required in a team in comparison to Bowman’s personalised method.
How you can apply it
Best used for working towards goals as part of a team.
- Set your objectives: What are the goals that you and your team want to achieve?
- Determine your key results: What do you need to achieve in order to reach your larger goal? What will the larger goal be measured by?
- Set a time frame: Determine when you’ll assess how successful these OKRs have been.
- Assess: Throughout your OKR cycle, assess whether the key results are being met or are on track to be met and make changes accordingly.
- Repeat: Iterate your OKR process to fit with the needs of your team or organisation, until you develop a system that works for you.
Keep in mind that the core principle between the two models remains the same: set short term goals for long term success. For any goal-setting that you do, I hope this principle helps to clarify your way forward.
Thanks for reading!
