Why Hitting All Your Goals Is A Bad Thing

Goals are awesome. In fact, you’ll never be all you could be without setting goals for yourself, your team, and your organization. Bill Copeland said, “The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” Goals are targets that help keep us focused and productive. However, there is a hidden challenge that goals bring with them.

What’s the point of having goals if you’re not hitting them, right? Well, actually, that might be a bad thing. Keep reading to discover why hitting all your goals might prevent you from achieving more. There’s a common misconception among leaders that if they hit all their goals, they’re doing something right. But research shows that this is actually a bad thing.

Here is a breakdown of the ideal percentage of hitting your goals.

100%

If you are hitting all the goals you have set out, something is wrong. It is an indicator that you haven’t pushed hard enough. You haven’t envisioned far enough. You haven’t assessed correctly. An organization that hits all its goals is leaving opportunity on the table. Most people and organizations pride themselves on reaching all their goals and consider it a great accomplishment. Certainly, attaining your goals is excellent, but an organization should not measure its success on only 100% accuracy. Indeed celebrate your wins and goals, but make sure you are mindful of a better approach to goal setting. There is a much more effective and celebrated percentage of achieving goals you should go after.

80%

The best organizations only reach around 80% accomplishment of their goals. This target ensures they have pushed hard, envisioned more, and assessed well. This percentage shows an organization that isn’t afraid to dream big but is willing to be realistic when it’s all said and done. The 80% range is a great place to land when it comes to an organization being in balance. Your team needs to understand why 80% is a good thing, lest they feel they are underperforming compared to a traditional view of 100% goal accomplishment.

65% (And Below)

This range of goal setting is too low. This indicates you are pushing too hard and have too much on your plate. This range becomes demoralizing and derails morale and productivity. No one wants to be part of a losing team. An organization that continually hits these marks will begin to see people abandon ship. They will burn out while losing all motivation to keep going. When you fall below the 80% mark, you have to reassess. This is the danger zone where bad things start happening behind the scenes.