Systems Vs Goals - What is Your Achievement Paradigm?

Have you heard of the Systems Vs Goals battle for superior performance?

Are you erroneously chasing just goals in your performance management?

Do you feel deflated once you have achieved your goal?

What kind of motivation will keep the fire in your belly burning all the while?

I will address this and many other questions in this post.

We will go behind the scenes to have a peek at how I deal with the systems Vs goals challenge.

We will do that with this 3 Part Series on Leadership & Productivity Practices.

The series is an inside look at how I adopt effective productivity practices to make best use of time.

In this Part 1, I share how I approach system setting (not goal setting) for my business enterprise.

This Leadership & Productivity Practices Guide also answers questions like:

My system setting allows me to stay motivated from project to project without any loss of enthusiasm.

Sir Winston Churchill once said: Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”

I call my system setting the PPP Manifesto.

Systems Vs Goals - The PPP Manifesto

I will share with you what my PPP Manifesto is about.

This manifesto guides me in everything I do both in my business enterprise as well as my personal life.

I consciously adhere to the manifesto at all times.

It is my own creation to keep myself motivated continuously.

You could call this my life system guide.

It is about how to create systems instead of goals as my achievement paradigm.

Watch this short video for a snapshot

Tip 1

Whatever approach you adopt ensure that you give it your own unique flavor.

That taps into how you think.

The way you work best.

And most of all, that harnesses your skill sets.

Your system / goal setting must be yours and only yours.

3 Pronged Systems Approach

My Mission Statement is:

Pursue a three pronged approach toward my targets for each year.

And that approach is the PPP Manifesto.

The PPP Manifesto is anchored by three powerful achievement mindsets:

• Process
• Planning
• Progress

Overview of PPP Manifesto

The Process role is all about steps and rituals.

It is the “Systems” in the Systems Vs Goals argument.

The Planning role is about mapping your journey and destination.

I use OKRs for my planning (more later)

Planning window is quarter based (more later).

The Progress Role is about measuring how I am doing against the plan.

In other words, identifying milestones of progress.

It is week / month based for each quarter planned.

I have divided my PPP Manifesto into two major paths of progress measurement:

• Setting OKRs and
• Execution of OKRs

OKRs or Objectives and Key Results is an amazing framework for achievement.

I will discuss it in detail in Part 2 of this 3 Part Series on Productivity and Achievement.

If you want to read up in the meanwhile, see resources below.

The OKRs straddle all 3 Ps - Process, Planning and Progress.

You will notice that process comes ahead of both planning as well as progress.

I will explain why I use this sequence with examples.

This PPP Manifesto draws on a few powerful frameworks like:

OKRs - Objectives and Key Results [Measure What Matters by John Doerr]

Habits - [Atomic Habits by James Clear]

Notion - an amazing Houdini type web / device application which allows you to build entire project and performance managements systems and more with it

And the best news - Notion is Free for personal use.

You can build an OKR system with Notion (like I have done)

I will provide some examples and screenshots on how I use Notion for my PPP Manifesto in Part 2.

My Process in Systems Vs Goals

Why did I place Process first in the PPP Manifesto?

Is it not more logical to start with planning?

Good questions.

This is where however the systems approach varies from the goal approach.

The system is made up of pillars that support both planning and progress measurement.

What do I mean by that?

Let me use the pillar metaphor.

Say you are planning a structure with spaces (rooms).

It is of course important to know what, where, when and how those spaces will be planned.

More important though is to determine how those spaces will be supported by load bearing walls, pillars and so on.

So that the structure does not collapse.

Don’t get me wrong.

I am not saying planning is less important.

What I am saying is that you need an infrastructure in place for your planning to materialize.

I will clarify this now.

The system consists of three broad concepts:

1. System
2. Steps
3. Rituals

Let me elaborate with examples you can use for setting up your own system.

System

This is the framework which will assist planning and progress.

Let me illustrate with an example.

Goal approach will be:

I want to write a book by 31st December 2023.

System approach will be:

Write for 45 minutes every weekday beginning at 8AM

Did you notice how the system approach is actually telling you what you need to do consistently?

So that you reach the goal.

However the focus in the system is on the regular activity.

Metaphorically, you can say:

• Goal is the destination
• System is the journey

For this system to be implemented successfully you need the next two parts.

Steps

Remember your book project to complete by end of 2023.

Break it down into 4-5 (or as many as required) steps.

What is the benefit?

It allows you to focus on each part separately.

It reduces the stress and overwhelm of a big project.

And more importantly, you are handling smaller chunks of work at a time.

That improves your productivity significantly.

Example of How I use Steps

I plan to publish a blog post every Friday (incidentally, I do publish every Friday - like today).

So, I break down my blog post publishing project as:

• Research topic & keywords by Mon
• Chunk topic into parts Tue
• Complete writing each part by Thur
• Insert images Thur
• Finalize blog post by Fri
• Publish on Friday

Notice how my big blog post project is suddenly more manageable.

This ensures that I consistently publish my post on Friday.

Let us get to the third system concept of rituals.

Rituals

Once you set up steps, you need to follow it up with action.

Just creating steps will not complete your blog post for a Friday publishing.

Enter the powerful role of rituals.

Rituals are the consistent adherence to a process.

The process consists of steps we saw earlier.

So, what do you do in a ritual, you may ask?

Well, you set up a system such that you implement the steps you laid out.

In a way you are creating a habit you can repeat.

Rituals help set up habits

It is generally accepted that it takes 21 days of consistently doing a particular activity before it becomes a habit.

So, you see it requires commitment.

Want to supercharge your productivity with habits?

Read the award winning book mentioned earlier on habits by James Clear.

Tip 2

• Set up a system that is achievable for you.
• Lay out steps which are realistic.
• Decide on rituals which allow you to enjoy the process.

My Planning in Systems Vs Goals

So you have set up a system consisting of steps and followed up with a ritual.

Now, you can flesh out your planning.

• Quarterly Plan
• Monthly Focus
• OKR Set Up

Quarterly Plan

It is generally accepted that annual goals are too long in the planning process.

You cannot wait until the end of the year to figure out how you fared.

You need a shorter time frame.

A quarter is such a time frame.

It is long enough for activities and projects to be completed.

And it is short enough to check progress.

In my blog post example, I have a quarterly goal for that along with a system.

I stick to the system and do not go ballistic about the goal.

You will see the magic of the system.

What I mean is your system will deliver the goal if it is consciously followed.

In Part 2 of this series I will lay out the details of the quarterly plan through OKRs.

Monthly Focus

The beauty of a quarterly plan is it allows three full months of performance.

A month is a great balance between too short and too long.

On the one hand, it allows you to plan activities within a quarter.

On the other, it will provide you with a good measure for progress (more later).

The other advantage is that three solid periods (month) can be used within a quarter for performance management.

OKR Set Up

This is just an overview of OKRs.

Part 2 will entirely focus on its mechanics.

OKRs literally supercharge your planning process.

They provide a big picture overview as well as the nuts and bolts.

And you will see their role in the measurement of progress as well.

Now on to the 3rd P in the PPP Manifesto.

Tip 3

• Spend some time thinking about your quarterly plan.
• You can break it down into the 3 months in each quarter.
• Be comfortable with what you plan.
• Don’t put pressure on yourself with unrealistic plans.

My Progress in Systems Vs Goals

Peter Drucker the father of management once said:

If it cannot be measured, it cannot be improved.

And so, you have set up a system and have done your planning.

This will be useless if you do not address the third P in the PPP Manifesto - progress.

This is easier said than done.

You will see how again systems will come to your rescue.

In particular, steps and rituals will again be key.

How is that you ask?

All in good time.

There are three parts to the progress role in the PPP Manifesto.

• Journaling
• OKR Measurement
• Reviews

At this point, let me clarify something.

While OKR Measurement and Reviews are parts you cannot avoid, journaling is a personal preference.

In any case, let me explain what the these three activities are.

I will leave it to you to decide your preference.

Journaling

At the outset, let me say that a big chunk of the population does not believe in the benefit of journaling.

I have now been journaling for more than 15 years.

I will use all my experience to lay out the benefits.

And leave it to you to decide for yourself.

What is journaling?

Simply put, journaling is a conversation to self about anything you fancy.

There are as many different interpretations to journaling as those who use it.

For example, early every morning along with my coffee, without fail I write my journal for about 15-30 minutes.

The journal entry is about:

• how my day went the day before,
• what I accomplished,
• what I did not accomplish
• what was unexpected and
• how I feel generally (upbeat, high spirits, so so, etc.)

Note this is just one example.

You can include anything else you prefer in your journal.

What’s the benefit of doing this writing you want to know?

Yup, coming right up.

Journaling allows you to put some space between yourself and your activities.

Often you achieve clarity in your thinking when you write things down.

The single biggest benefit of journaling is when you read back your entries later.

You are regularly surprised at reading later what your thoughts were when you write your journal.

So, a journal could tell you why you did something on a certain day.

Powerful introspection I might say.

OKR Measurement

This is pretty obvious as an activity.

You compare your plan with what you achieved.

Whether you accomplished what you planned.

And if so, by how much?

I will be devoting most of Part 2 of this series in describing what OKR is all about.

Reviews

Reviews are one of the most powerful rituals you can perform.

Remember rituals in the systems part of this post earlier?

Well, you make a habit out of measuring your progress versus your plan.

By doing the reviewing on the same day over a period.

For example, I conduct a review of my progress every Saturday morning.

So, you could say, it is a weekly ritual.

Reviews are powerful if you again set up a system for it.

In Part 2 of this series while discussing OKRs I will give you examples of how reviews work.

Tip 4

• Be honest with your progress measurement.
• If you did not achieve your plan this month, continue and do so in the next.
• Make your reviews an enjoyable activity.
• Celebrate small wins.

Benefits of PPP Manifesto

So, what are the benefits of the PPP Manifesto.

I have been following my PPP Manifesto In the last 10 years or so.

Over that time I can genuinely say I have reaped the following clear benefits:

• I do not get overwhelmed by the pressure of goals (destination)
• I keep my focus on the process (journey) and finally
• I have allowed my system to dictate achievement

How Do You Manage Your Performance?

How do you manage your performance?

Do you agree with my approach?

Is there anything I can do to improve my system?

Comment below, I am keen on knowing how you handle your performance.

Summary of Tips for Systems Vs Goals

Here is a summary of all the Tips (in one place for your ready reference) in this Part 1 of the Productivity and Achievement paradigm post.

TIP 1

• Whatever approach you adopt ensure that you give it your own unique flavor.
• That taps into how you think.
• The way you work best.
• And most of all, that harnesses your skill sets.
• Your system / goal setting must be yours and only yours.

Tip 2

• Set up a system that is achievable for you.
• Lay out steps which are realistic.
• Decide on rituals which allow you to enjoy the process.

Tip 3

• Spend some time thinking about your quarterly plan.
• You can break it down into the 3 months in each quarter.
• Be comfortable with what you plan.
• Don’t put pressure on yourself with unrealistic plans.

Tip 4

• Be honest with your progress measurement.
• If you did not achieve your plan this month, continue and do so in the next.
• Make your reviews an enjoyable activity.
• Celebrate small wins.

Related Posts of Leadership & Productivity Practices - Part 2 OKRs

In Part 2 of this series, I will lay out my OKR system (Objectives and Key Results) along with examples and tips you can use if you feel it can be useful for you.

Click for Part 2 - OKR - Your Guiding Force for Consistent Achievement.

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