Goal setting for performance

This paper is a good analysis of the impact of goal setting on performance.

It’s focused on sports, but the takeaways are broadly applicable to individual and team performance across many domains - including business:

1. Outcome goals (“I will win an Olympic gold medal”) had a negligible impact
2. Performance goals (“I will run a mile in less than 4 minutes”) had a moderate impact
3. Process goals (“I will run at least 5 miles every day” i.e., what are the steps to give me a shot) had a large impact