Thank heavens January (the traditional goal-setting month or “what’s your two- to five-year plan”) only comes once a year.
Goal setting? No. Whack-a-mole is what I do every day. I picked up a book to read the other day solely based on its title, One Damn Thing After Another (William P. Barr). I knew I’d be able to relate. It’s the whack-a-mole syndrome. Problem-solvers play whack-a-mole.
Which is why it made it so hard for me to answer a year-end review with my employer when he asked, “What’s your two- to five-year plan?” That’s not whack-a-mole.
Plan? My plan for the past three years has been to keep my teammates motivated, my customers valued and processes efficient enough no one has to wait on me, and … goals? Yeah, I think I remember writing down something about those once. Wait, maybe I can find them filed in that drawer where I keep loose M&Ms, caffeinated drinks and unused letter openers. Can I get back to you on that?
Many days, it seems like I just put out spot fires – like playing whack-a-mole. And yet, it’s deeply satisfying to play that game – it’s visceral. It gets the blood pumping, the adrenaline flowing and because it’s tiring, it feels like I got something done. It’s easy to confuse busy-ness with progress.
Here’s the problem: When the blood pressure settles back down and the problem-solving adrenaline is gone, there’s nothing left in deep winter but email – endless email. And on the excitement meter, goal planning kind of rates right there with email. It’s a little hard to get motivated for lofty ideals when you’re stuck in the email basement of doom.
Business consultants love to harp on goal setting – especially in January because, well, these people are often goal-setters themselves. (And that’s fine, someone has to do it.) But some of us don’t operate on strict timelines and linear trajectories. For us, it’s not about the goal as much as the journey. I’m not downplaying goal-setters. If you are one, good on ya. But if you’re not a strict goal-setter, welcome to the club. We are kindred spirits who enjoy the journey. We’re like clouds whose shapes morph as they travel across the sky. We relish the unexpected. In fact, if we never reach “the goal,” we’ve still won because we’ve learned so much and had such a good time.
Still, I realize whack-a-mole is not a complete business plan – not really. Whack-a-mole is not a good long-term strategy, and we have to play for the long game.
So, one week out of this month (February, because I’m running late), I will stop playing whack-a-mole just for that week and will assess some long-term plans and commit a few aspirations to paper – and I’ll be better off for it. And afterward, hand me that mole bat and stand back, and let’s not have this discussion again for at least another year.
