Tip 676: The Need for Clear Objectives

From the Leadership Workshops: The Need for Clear Objectives

In several recent workshops, we’ve talked of the need for clear objectives. Identify where we’re going (BAM!) and go there. 

Otherwise, we walk in circles. 

Walk in circles. 

The Max Planck Society studied this idea: 

It is a common theme in many books and films: when people get lost in a desert or a jungle, they end up walking in circles. . . .

Surprisingly enough, the belief that people walk in circles when lost is mainly based on anecdotal evidence and has never been studied systematically in a real desert or forest. (Current Biology, August 20th, 2009)*

So they studied it.

They found that people do walk in circles when they have no reference points. 

When their research subjects walked in the forest on cloudy days, they walked in circles. 

When their research subjects walked in the forest on sunny days, they used the sun as a reference point and walked in a straight line. 

Wow. 

So what do we learn? 

We need reference points. Goals. Objectives. Long term. Short term. 

We need to check our journeys with these reference points. Are we still on course? Still on track?  

Fascinating stuff.

We’ll continue the discussion next week. We’ll explore the Alice in Wonderland quotation we begin every workshop with. 

We love this stuff.

We really do.

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* We discovered this study from another source. We’re not that smart, and we’re grateful for the source.