Performance Goals are Useful, but Learning Goals Transform
Performance goals are useful, but learning goals transform. Learning goals target development. Performance goals emphasize achievement.
The more you learn, the more you achieve. There are three factors in becoming a high performer, learning, unlearning, and relearning.
A leader told me he was learning a lot. I asked, “What are you learning?” He couldn’t name one thing. If you don’t know what you’re learning, you’re confused.
AI generated image. 10/22/2024
Set learning goals that matter:
Define the contribution you aspire to make. Explore ways to contribute more effectively. Suppose you want to be a person who energizes others. Keep learning new ways to bring energy to others.
Clarify your aspirations. Perhaps you aspire to corporate leadership. Learn skills that enable you to pursue achievement goals.
Learn from experience:
“The only thing more painful than learning from experience is not learning from experience.” Anon.
- Record learnings in a journal.
- Reflect on failure by asking, “What could I do differently next time?”
- Reflect on success by asking, “What actions produce the best results?”
- Try stuff and adapt as you go. “What else could I try?”
- Teach others. The teacher learns more than the student. “This is how you….”
Becoming is better than being:
“The successful man (person) admits that there is more pleasure in work than in having secured the rewards of it—that becoming is better than being—since possibility marks the one and finality seals the other.” Sir Thomas Oliver
Challenge teaches you who you might become. Seek discomfort. Do hard things. Fail responsibly.
Tip: Feed curiosity. Einstein said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.”
What are some useful learning goals?
Still curious:
Dear Dan: How Do You Keep Learning
I think sometimes people confuse training with learning. Training is gaining a new skill or improving an existing one; learning is deciding how to use your skills effectively. Practice helps more with training; experience helps more with learning
Start by asking yourself: “Am I trying to get better or am I trying to do better?” If you are trying to get better, you are training. If you are trying to do better, you are learning. Once you know which mode you are in, then you can decide how best to approach it.
Powerful insight, Jennifer. It’s interesting that you bring this up. I wanted to include the application of learning to the real world in this post, but my self-imposed restriction prevented it. All that to say, your comment is a perfect addition to this post.
“am I trying to do better?” = gold
The phrase that “becoming is better than being” goes to the heart of my work on systematic continuous improvement. It also resonates with a story I read recently about the Detroit Tigers have adopting some new principles and practices that are grounded in the following premise: “Don’t worry about being the best. Focus on being the best at getting better.” They had a surprisingly good season considering they are the youngest team in MLB, falling just one game short of making it into the American League Championship Series. I predict they are going to be perennial big-time contenders in the future if they stay the course with their new philosophy. You might want to place a bet on them at the beginning of next season to make it into the World Series. The betting odds will be good, and the chances of winning are very promising 😉
Thanks for the tip, Les! I’ll keep that in mind. Love the philosophy of being the best at getting better. I love a good sentence. Thanks for, “Don’t worry about being the best. Focus on being the best at getting better.”
I’m thankful you stopped in. Cheers
I love this passage below. I need to seek discomfort more – I too often settle for ease and comfort.
Challenge teaches you who you might become. Seek discomfort. Do hard things. Fail responsibly. Feed curiosity. Einstein said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.”