Goals: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Do your school's goals get your motivated?  Do your district's goals get you fired up? Maybe, or maybe not.

I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Managing Leadership, by Jim Stroup. Jim asks...

"...are large, ambitious goals inherently uplifting or inspiring? Do they set in motion the sort of positive, constructive dynamic in a group that we are looking for in a way that run-of-the-mill, otherwise unimaginative goals do not?

"The short answer is no, they don’t. The goals that work are the right goals. But that’s where the rub is: When is a goal of this, rather than that, scope appropriate? When, even, is an impressively large goal actually irresponsible and dangerous – and when is it vital to organizational survival? When is an ordinary one sufficient to get the creative organizational juices flowing and productivity flying, and when does it silently drain the organization of its energy?"

It got me thinking about the goals of a typical school or district. First, we write goals into school plans. The question is do these goals motivate you to action?  Are those even the correct goals to go after?  Are they based on an analysis of data or on a hunch? Second, do those goals drive your decision making or do they just end up on a shelf, something just to check off of your list?  Districts often have such lofty or large goals that many don't see how the can achieve it or how they even relate to achieving it. It's to removed for their day to day work. Third, what is the role of organizational leadership in developing or choosing goals for the school or district?

I commented to Jim with some of my thoughts and questions..

Jim, I wonder about goals, really artificial or numeric goals, that are set by those outside of the organization and for which there is no real urgency. I am thinking for example of the arbitrary goal of reaching a predetermined new score for a school, the goal of which is created outside of the organization and imposed by legislation or law. The goal (raise test scores) is decided by others, imposed by others, arbitrary in nature (go up such and such amount), and not connected to the every day function of the organization (teaching vs. testing), and is evaluated and measured on one day’s results. What role does organizational leadership play in this case?

I recommend you check back in with the Managing Leadership blog for insights into this issue. As summer approaches and we begin thinking about our goals for next school year, it is a timely conversation.