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How we frame our goals is critical to succeeding in our purpose |
The usual moral from this tale here is that’s how you win a street fight - by doing it the smart way. I think there's also another one there - which is about remembering your purpose and not getting struck in distracting tasks. The aim here for the master was not to fight, but to win, and he did that in an elegant, if unconventional way.
I'm trying to keep this in mind especially now, as new school terms and New Year's resolutions are often about setting goals. The thing about goals, if you are not careful, is that they can sit oddly with purposes.
Example: Suppose in school I decide I want to be better at French. The worst form of goal is 'get a 7 in French' as it really gives no indication of what to do. A slightly better goal is something like 'do 15 minutes practice each day'. Even better would be to engage a teacher in a dialogue about what to practice, and how to assess progress. But even then, the goal is hardly inspiring; and human nature being what it is, in most cases the 15 minutes, if it is ever reached, will likely dwindle to 12, 10.... and eventually zero. The net result will probably be little progress, and perhaps with with less confidence about our ability to do so.
I am not suggesting that we to never aspire to be better, of course. But like Tsukahara Bokuden, we should think about the ultimate purpose of what we are trying to achieve. The best way to get somewhere is to seek a strategy other than the purely instrumental. For the French example, perhaps we really want to be the sort of person who is fluent in another language. That puts a whole different spin on the 15 minutes of practice; it might motivate us to do much more because we can see the intrinsic value of the outcome. Or, if not, it might become apparent that we do not care for the goal so much and should choose a different one.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery's famous quote If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea puts a little poetry into the sentiment, and it applies to teachers as well as students. A professional goal of deepening my formative assessment feedback is going to look fairly dismal when I am marking on a Sunday evening; contrast this with my aspiration to be a teacher who helps students understand difficult ideas in a profound way. One will keep me going; the other will not.
This approach to goals and aspirations is based on a fundamental on belief about how to get the best out of people. That belief is that we get furthest when we appeal to identity and values - and it applies to ourselves as much as others. It goes way further than education; business executive Clarence Francis extended it to the move from from external to internal rewards, saying that the things you really want - enthusiasm, initiative, devotion - cannot be reduced to simple measurables: you can buy a man's time, you can buy a man's physical presence at a certain place, you can even buy a measured number of skilled muscular motions per hour or day. But you cannot buy enthusiasm, you cannot buy initiative, you cannot buy loyalty; you cannot buy the devotion of hearts, minds, and souls. You have to earn these things. So for our goals to earn our enthusiasm, initiative and devotion, they need to be more than mundane tasks; they need to be statements we can believe and commit to.
I am not suggesting that we to never aspire to be better, of course. But like Tsukahara Bokuden, we should think about the ultimate purpose of what we are trying to achieve. The best way to get somewhere is to seek a strategy other than the purely instrumental. For the French example, perhaps we really want to be the sort of person who is fluent in another language. That puts a whole different spin on the 15 minutes of practice; it might motivate us to do much more because we can see the intrinsic value of the outcome. Or, if not, it might become apparent that we do not care for the goal so much and should choose a different one.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery's famous quote If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea puts a little poetry into the sentiment, and it applies to teachers as well as students. A professional goal of deepening my formative assessment feedback is going to look fairly dismal when I am marking on a Sunday evening; contrast this with my aspiration to be a teacher who helps students understand difficult ideas in a profound way. One will keep me going; the other will not.
This approach to goals and aspirations is based on a fundamental on belief about how to get the best out of people. That belief is that we get furthest when we appeal to identity and values - and it applies to ourselves as much as others. It goes way further than education; business executive Clarence Francis extended it to the move from from external to internal rewards, saying that the things you really want - enthusiasm, initiative, devotion - cannot be reduced to simple measurables: you can buy a man's time, you can buy a man's physical presence at a certain place, you can even buy a measured number of skilled muscular motions per hour or day. But you cannot buy enthusiasm, you cannot buy initiative, you cannot buy loyalty; you cannot buy the devotion of hearts, minds, and souls. You have to earn these things. So for our goals to earn our enthusiasm, initiative and devotion, they need to be more than mundane tasks; they need to be statements we can believe and commit to.
Speak more in class
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or
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Become a person who is a persuasive communicator
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Go to the gym 3 times a week
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or
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Become a person who feels great, strong and healthy
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Volunteer at the local hospice
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or
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Become a person who brings some happiness to the dying
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Write a blog each week
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or
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Become a person who thinks about interesting issues via writing
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Lose 5kg of weight
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or
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Become a person who is not a slave to is appetites
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So what's the best way to achieve a goal? Like winning a streetfight, start by knowing your real purpose.
Mr. Alchin, thank you for writing about this - it reminds me of the conception of hard work and smart work. From what I have understood, as part of framing, you are advocating an approach that is more strategic (as opposed to tactical) and cognizant of longer term objectives. One that is less instrumental and more connected to intrinsic motivations.
ReplyDeleteIn that light, what do you think of all the business/productivity press (think Fast Company, Inc.com etc) that focuses on systems and habits over flashes of inspiration. On balance, would you say motivation is a better determinant of results than formally drawn up routines or systems? (does this depend person-to-person and on circumstances?)
Where do SMART goals fit into this - does the framing provide the fuel to achieve those goals? By not focusing as much on the less glamorous "Go to the gym 3 times a week”, is there the risk of abstraction or being overwhelmed by the enormity of the goal? Or is the idea that by giving ourselves the permission to transcend the mechanical nature of the tasks, we can relish the challenge and be motivated to “sharpen the saw” (Covey) or “self-actualize” (Marlow)? Would incentives be stronger and more necessary under the systems approach?
Is there a balance that needs to be struck or are they both sides of the same coin and am I guilty of creating a false dichotomy?
Hi Arjun - nice to hear from you. I hope you are well. I have just seen your comment, some 5 months late! I will have a think and try to answer shortly.
ReplyDeleteDear Arjun
ReplyDeleteYour questions are very perceptive. And I think what they show me is that (as always) there is no one single answer; and different strokes for different folks, as they say, Context is all. I am a bit suspicious of SMART goals, but perhaps that's because the things I am interested in are often not easily measured; which kind of defeat SMART goals from the outset. But if I were, say, trying to bench press 200 pounds, then that seems very different. So it also depends on the type of goal.
I think you are right, there is a balance to be struck. But in your example, 'go to the gym three times a week' really seems to me to be a means to an end, not an end in itself. And that's what I was getting at in the blog.
all the best
Nick