Setting Outcome Goals

We had a team meeting last week, and one of the primary purposes was to discuss our goals for the upcoming season. In the past, we have had team discussions about what each of us wants to get out of the season, but this year, I wanted to convey the sense that we were signing off, as a team, on the team goals. I think this was a positive process as we acknowledged, as a team, what we are trying to achieve(Outcome Goals), but more importantly, how we are going to get there (Process Goals). I met a few times with my captains prior to the meeting because I wanted to make sure that our goals were team driven and not imposed on the team by me.

Our Process Goals are pretty clear and the team felt very comfortable with them. It is hard to argue with a Process Goal like "Work on throwing and catching at every practice". We did have a couple of Outcome Goals that generated a lot of discussion, and I think revealed some frequent issues that teams have with goal setting. A few examples are; concerns about pressure when faced with "stretch" goals, priority of achievement over process, and being distracted by the awareness of having to achieve goals.

In 2001, I captained a team and I set out as one of our goals "Make quarters at Nationals". I felt that this was an appropriate goal for the team based on our talent and the history of Mixed teams in our Region. When we qualified for Nationals, some of the players took issue with the goal of getting to quarters. The rationale was "If we are not trying to win the tournament, why bother playing in it". This is a good example of how goal setting is difficult. I think the idea of dividing up the team goals into Process Goals and Outcome Goals really helps the team focus on what is important.

Outcome Goals focus on uncontrollable elements, and they can be used to raise the ceiling on what the team is trying to achieve. They are dependent, however, on solid and well-thought out Process Goals. A team that has only Outcome Goals (I would hazard a guess that most Ultimate teams are like this) not only puts their stock solely into uncontrollable concerns, but also has no means by which to build a foundation upon which they can achieve success. It is easy to say "The Goal of the team is to win Nationals". Any team can say this. The process of doing it is a different matter altogether.

One of the great things about dividing up your goals is that it allows you to focus on the moment. When you arrive at the big tournament, you know that you have worked hard to achieve your Process Goals and, as a result, that you are properly prepared. You are also not distracted by the pressure of achieving your Outcome Goals sometime later in the weekend because the things that you control are occuring in the present.

The result of our discussion was, I hope, an agreement upon an appropriate sets of goals. I think we have solid Process Goals that inform us on a daily basis, but also Outcome Goals that are both challenging yet reward us for enjoying the gift of trying to play good Ultimate.