Importance of Process Goal on Success

2 types of goals: outcome goal and process goal

If there is something which people would want to achieve, we can state that as a goal. Usually in the business world, we set a goal and work to achieve it. And, a good goal said to be SMART which is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. The goal needs to be something which can be looked back and reviewed. Of course, since nobody can predict exactly about the future, there are times that goals can be achieved and there are times that goals can not be achieved.

There are two types of goals we can create. The basic one is the outcome goal. The outcome goal states what we want to achieve. Let’s say a person wants to lose some weight to become healthier, the person might want to set a goal to lose the weight. But, if the person only states a goal to lose some weight, it is difficult to know how much weight the person would like to lose in order to evaluate whether the goal is achieved or not. In order to make the goal SMART, the person might specify a goal like to lose 7lb(3.2kg) of weight by the end of next month. 7lb(3.2kg) of weight is specific, measurable and there is a time bound that the loss of 7lb(3.2kg) needs to be done by the end of next month. Plus, losing 7lb(3.2kg) sounds achievable and losing weight is relevant to be healthy.

This outcome goal states “what” to achieve. However, it does not state “how”. The process goal is another type of goal which focuses more on the “how” part. In order to lose weight, the person may choose to run every day. Maybe the person prefers to go to the gym to workout. In order to achieve the outcome goal of losing weight, it is better to state the goal on the “how” part, also. In this case, let’s say this person prefers to go to the gym to workout. Again, since the goal should be SMART, this person can make a goal to go to gym at least twice a week and workout at least an hour. I think it is agreeable that going to the gym is quite relevant to losing weight.

Difficulty of outcome goal

The difference between process goal and outcome goal is that the person can control the process goal but can not control the outcome goal. Going to the gym can be controlled but it doesn’t mean that the person definitely can lose 7lb(3.2kg) by the end of next month. But it is quite possible to lose some weight by the end of next month. Plus, it is quite possible to lose 7lb(3.2kg) in the near future although it might not be by the end of next month.

Difficulty about setting the right outcome goal is because there are some unknown factors which will affect the outcome. Since setting a precise outcome goal is difficult, as long as there is some relevance between outcome and process, I believe making precise outcome goals is not that important. Rather than making precise outcome goals, I believe focusing on achieving process goals consistently is more important. If the process goal is relevant enough to achieve the outcome goal, the outcome goal may not be achieved as the time bound, but eventually, the number of the outcome goal will be achieved.

Small steps are important

A famous inspirational speaker, Simon Sinek had talked in his presentation as below.

There’s no event. It’s an accumulation of lots and lots of little things that any one by themselves is innocuous and useless. But if you do consistently and you do it in combination with lots of other little things, it’s those little innocuous things that you do over and over and over and over that matter the most.

In every business, I feel there is no shortcut. The growth and success only comes from accumulation of small steps forward. And, I believe, achieving the process goal is to recognize that we are making small steps forward.

In conclusion

If there is something that needs to be achieved, it is important to set a goal in a SMART way. In addition, it is important to not only set goals on “what” to achieve but also “how” to achieve. And, those “what” and “how” goals can be stated as outcome goals and process goals. Since achieving outcome goals may have factors which can not be controlled, it is important to focus on achieving process goals so that the number of the outcome goal will be achieved eventually.

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