Many motivational speakers have shared a variation of the phrase, "No one plans to fail, but many fail to plan". Why is this such a strong message that so many use it as fodder to get people on track for success? Simply, if we don't know where we are going we will never truly know when we get there. You have to have a plan. In this sense a plan is a goal, or something to be attained. In order to get somewhere or something there is usually a series of steps to be accomplished in order to get there.
Without doing a study in human evolution or socialization I would wage a stiff bet that as long as man has been mobile he/she has devised some sort of map to chart progress, report new discoveries, and help others save time by avoiding pitfalls along the way. The earliest humans might have written the directions to a food or water source on cave walls. In the discovery age when explorers were searching new trade routes to India they charted their courses and passed on the information to following travelers. Today, we have our Garmins and smart phones with Google Maps. Charting our courses and passing on information is probably as old a human trait as utilizing fire. We have a need to know where we are going, and the best way for us to get there is to have a plan or goal.
Goals can be big or small, long range or short sided. Goals are our mental maps to get what we want. Establishing little goals in the effort to accomplish larger ones requires feedback and evaluation from time to time to ensure we are tracking for our ultimate destination. Feedback throughout our progression is important to us. Whether we hit a landmark on our way to the watering hole, took that left at Albuquerque, or received some praise from our bosses/coworkers for a job well done feedback is important for us to measure our advancement. So, goals are planning strategies written down and feedback acts as reinforcement along the way.
Brown discusses in his book, An Experiential Approach to Organization Development, that younger generations require more frequency in feedback. He claims that "a combination of goal setting and feedback on individual performance has a positive effect on performance". Brown also alludes to a trend that older generations are less dependent on feedback as younger folks. This does not surprise me in the least. If we take a simple look into how older generation acquired information and compared this to how we get information today we can see why younger people tend to respond better to instantaneous feedback. When my mother was working towards her Masters Degree in the 80's I distinctly remember her spending hours at the library, researching books and journals, following one source to another and tracking her progress on a Big Chief tablet. She put in considerable time and effort to find answers to her questions, and once her knowledge was attained it was reinforced by the fruits of her labor. Today, as I am working on my Masters Degree I can Google, Wiki, Hunt Library Online, and click away to find instantaneous answers to my questions with little effort. A smart person would have that lingering internal voice inside their heads questioning the information source, if the information is relevant, or pertains to the ultimate goal being pursued. So, for me I require feedback from my sphere of influence. My theory is this... when less effort is made to attain information the higher the need for feedback.
We live in a fast paced world and the speed in which information is available to us can be overwhelming (and it's only getting faster). When we set our sights on a goal and make a plan we need to be aware of our progress. I am reminded of Chris Kyle's book, American Sniper, when he was discussing that being an 8th-inch off target on the scope could mean feet off target down range. Little miscalculations now could mean huge deviations down the road. This is why, in my life, it is important to plan accordingly, make goals and track them, and seek feedback throughout my process. We all want to get somewhere in the least amount of time, and the best laid road map comes with a series of landmarks. Planning to succeed requires planning to achieve. Set goals, accomplish them one at a time, seek feedback, and get to where you are going. In the immortal words of General George S. Patton, "we are either moving forward or we are moving backwards". Stagnation is not an option... plan accordingly.
JP
Without doing a study in human evolution or socialization I would wage a stiff bet that as long as man has been mobile he/she has devised some sort of map to chart progress, report new discoveries, and help others save time by avoiding pitfalls along the way. The earliest humans might have written the directions to a food or water source on cave walls. In the discovery age when explorers were searching new trade routes to India they charted their courses and passed on the information to following travelers. Today, we have our Garmins and smart phones with Google Maps. Charting our courses and passing on information is probably as old a human trait as utilizing fire. We have a need to know where we are going, and the best way for us to get there is to have a plan or goal.
Goals can be big or small, long range or short sided. Goals are our mental maps to get what we want. Establishing little goals in the effort to accomplish larger ones requires feedback and evaluation from time to time to ensure we are tracking for our ultimate destination. Feedback throughout our progression is important to us. Whether we hit a landmark on our way to the watering hole, took that left at Albuquerque, or received some praise from our bosses/coworkers for a job well done feedback is important for us to measure our advancement. So, goals are planning strategies written down and feedback acts as reinforcement along the way.
Brown discusses in his book, An Experiential Approach to Organization Development, that younger generations require more frequency in feedback. He claims that "a combination of goal setting and feedback on individual performance has a positive effect on performance". Brown also alludes to a trend that older generations are less dependent on feedback as younger folks. This does not surprise me in the least. If we take a simple look into how older generation acquired information and compared this to how we get information today we can see why younger people tend to respond better to instantaneous feedback. When my mother was working towards her Masters Degree in the 80's I distinctly remember her spending hours at the library, researching books and journals, following one source to another and tracking her progress on a Big Chief tablet. She put in considerable time and effort to find answers to her questions, and once her knowledge was attained it was reinforced by the fruits of her labor. Today, as I am working on my Masters Degree I can Google, Wiki, Hunt Library Online, and click away to find instantaneous answers to my questions with little effort. A smart person would have that lingering internal voice inside their heads questioning the information source, if the information is relevant, or pertains to the ultimate goal being pursued. So, for me I require feedback from my sphere of influence. My theory is this... when less effort is made to attain information the higher the need for feedback.
We live in a fast paced world and the speed in which information is available to us can be overwhelming (and it's only getting faster). When we set our sights on a goal and make a plan we need to be aware of our progress. I am reminded of Chris Kyle's book, American Sniper, when he was discussing that being an 8th-inch off target on the scope could mean feet off target down range. Little miscalculations now could mean huge deviations down the road. This is why, in my life, it is important to plan accordingly, make goals and track them, and seek feedback throughout my process. We all want to get somewhere in the least amount of time, and the best laid road map comes with a series of landmarks. Planning to succeed requires planning to achieve. Set goals, accomplish them one at a time, seek feedback, and get to where you are going. In the immortal words of General George S. Patton, "we are either moving forward or we are moving backwards". Stagnation is not an option... plan accordingly.
JP
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