Goal setting is an integral part of any organization’s pursuit of performance, growth, and results. However, the way goals are set in the different departments inevitably results in conflicting agendas, competition for resources, sandbagging and more.

It is not uncommon to hear people say things like “Competition between departments is natural”, “Conflicts between departments will always exist” and “Nothing can be done”. If this is so, then our efforts to strengthen culture, promote collaboration will always be met with resistance.

Does this have to be so? Imagine the different organs in a human body trying to function without any understanding of their impact on the other organs and the larger ecosystem.

Conventional strategies to ensure goal setting supports culture and collaboration efforts include shared KPIs, joint project teams, shared rewards, to name a few. However, there is little evidence that these strategies consistently and always work. In this talk, we will explore the pitfalls of conventional goal setting and propose a refreshing and inclusive way of setting goals that leads to better performance and results while strengthening culture.