MYW S01 Episode 07 – The Power of Goals

We’ve all set goals that we never attain. The research says that goals, however, are one of the most powerful motivators we have access to. In this episode, we explore goal-setting theory and provide you with all the information you’ll need to design better goals and tap into their motivational power.

Timestamps:
01:27: Why are goals powerful motivators?
03:02: How to design better goals (Goal-Setting Theory & S.M.A.R.T. Goals)
06:45: Misapplications of S.M.A.R.T. Goals and their consequences
10:48: Other important pieces to make goals effective motivators
13:04: Objectives & Key Results (OKRs) and expanding goals to a broader context
16:30: The importance of understanding what your goals might be missing out on
22:30: This Is Not Homework: Applying Goal-Setting Theory & S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Mentioned This Episode:
Mindyourwork.io – Find us here!
MindYourWorkIO – Send us a tweet!
MindYourWork on iTunes – Please leave us a review, it really helps others find us
https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1390387919?mt=2&ls=1
Objectives & Key Results – felipecastro.com/en/okr/what-is-okr/
Humanyze Research – https://hbr.org/2014/09/give-your-unsung-office-heroes-a-raise and http://www.humanyze.com/case-studies-multi-national-tech-company/
MYW Goal-Setting Infographic: A brief guide on how to design better goals! (https://imgur.com/pLZxmdV)

Addendums:
9:01: An important aspect of the logging company study we mention is that the drivers were not offered any reward for meeting the goals and were not punished if they did not meet their goals. Incredibly just setting a goal for the drivers was enough to influence performance without any tangible outcome tied to it.
11:45: An important clarification is that the Pygmalion effect did not originate from military research (although there is support for its existence in a military setting). It actually stemmed from work by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson who studied this phenomenon in the classroom and published their findings in 1968.

Credits:
Our intro and outro music is “Ingenuity” by Lee Rosevere, licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC 3.0). You can find more of Lee’s music at leerosevere.bandcamp.com. Our transition music for this episode is “Evening Glow” also by Lee; licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0).

Logo Artwork by Antonella Espinoza. Find her at @ellaspin on Twitter!

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