Setting goals –– a thread (1/20) 👇
1. Why set goals
2. How to set goals
3. Picking the metric
4. Pick the threshold
5. How to use goals once you have them
1. Why set goals
2. How to set goals
3. Picking the metric
4. Pick the threshold
5. How to use goals once you have them
1/ Why set goals?
Goals are just a tool to help you align and motivate everyone on your team to successfully achieve a desired outcome.
Goals are just a tool to help you align and motivate everyone on your team to successfully achieve a desired outcome.
2/ Goals have three primary benefits:
1. Clarity: You know what success looks like
2. Alignment: All team members know what success looks like
3. Motivation: A push to achieve more than you would have otherwise
1. Clarity: You know what success looks like
2. Alignment: All team members know what success looks like
3. Motivation: A push to achieve more than you would have otherwise
3/ Where do goals fit into the bigger picture?
Mission → Vision → Strategy → *Goals* → Roadmap
You start with your Mission (what you're trying to achieve), which informs your Vision (what the world looks like when you achieve it), then your Strategy (how you get there)...
Mission → Vision → Strategy → *Goals* → Roadmap
You start with your Mission (what you're trying to achieve), which informs your Vision (what the world looks like when you achieve it), then your Strategy (how you get there)...
4/ Now, you need to find a way to tell whether you're successfully executing your Strategy (and thus your vision and mission).
That's where goals come in.
That's where goals come in.
5/ A good goal is:
1. Simple: Everyone understands what it is
2. Concrete: It's obvious if you've achieved it
3. Worthwhile: Making an impact actually matters to the business
4. Stable: Won’t be drowned out by noise
5. Quick feedback loop: Changes can be seen in the metric
1. Simple: Everyone understands what it is
2. Concrete: It's obvious if you've achieved it
3. Worthwhile: Making an impact actually matters to the business
4. Stable: Won’t be drowned out by noise
5. Quick feedback loop: Changes can be seen in the metric
6/ How to set goals:
Step 1. Pick the metric
Step 2. Pick the threshold (aka the goal)
Step 1. Pick the metric
Step 2. Pick the threshold (aka the goal)
7/ Step 1: Pick the metric
Start with your north star metric —whether it’s revenue, subscriptions, or media consumed— and figure out what set of levers move that metric.
For example, at Airbnb our north star metric was nights booked. The levers that moved this metric were...
Start with your north star metric —whether it’s revenue, subscriptions, or media consumed— and figure out what set of levers move that metric.
For example, at Airbnb our north star metric was nights booked. The levers that moved this metric were...
8/ ... loosely broken up into demand, supply, and the dynamics between the two. One level deeper, on say demand, we looked at things like site visits, conversion, and cancellation rate.
9/ This combination of levers is often referred to as a company’s growth model. When you do this right, all of the levers add up to 100% of what drives the business, and helps you understand where your biggest opportunities are. Essentially, it’s the math formula of the business.
10/ With this collection of levers, figure out which of those levers present the largest constraint (or bottleneck) for your business. Ask yourself: what’s the one thing that, if moved, would unlock the most growth?
Then, determine the best concrete metric to track that lever.
Then, determine the best concrete metric to track that lever.
11/ Step 2: Pick the threshold (aka the goal):
This usually requires a combination of tops-down and bottoms-up thinking.
• Tops-down: In order for your business to achieve the ideal level of growth required for long-term success, how much does this metric need to move?
This usually requires a combination of tops-down and bottoms-up thinking.
• Tops-down: In order for your business to achieve the ideal level of growth required for long-term success, how much does this metric need to move?
12/ • Bottoms-up: Knowing what you know today, what impact could your team realistically deliver with current resources (or, with some increase in resources)?
Your resulting number usually ends up being somewhere in the middle, adjusted for resources you end getting.
Your resulting number usually ends up being somewhere in the middle, adjusted for resources you end getting.
12/ How ambitious leaders should be when setting goals?
I think about a goal like a video game. Video games are built to ensure that the next level is just hard enough to motivate you to continue, but not so hard that you give up. You want to win, even if it’s tough, and...
I think about a goal like a video game. Video games are built to ensure that the next level is just hard enough to motivate you to continue, but not so hard that you give up. You want to win, even if it’s tough, and...
14/ ...victory always seems just within reach. But when it feels impossible, you quickly give up.
So when setting a goal, just like in a video game, you want your goal to motivate your team. @bchesky likes to say that goals should feel “uncomfortable, but not impossible.”
So when setting a goal, just like in a video game, you want your goal to motivate your team. @bchesky likes to say that goals should feel “uncomfortable, but not impossible.”
15/ How to use goals once you have them:
1. Get buy-in: Get stakeholders on board
2. Instrument: Make it easy to watch this metric
3. Prioritize: Impact vs. Effort
4. Operationalize: Build this metric into your team workflows
5. Revisit: OK to adjust if something isn't right.
1. Get buy-in: Get stakeholders on board
2. Instrument: Make it easy to watch this metric
3. Prioritize: Impact vs. Effort
4. Operationalize: Build this metric into your team workflows
5. Revisit: OK to adjust if something isn't right.
16/ One of the biggest traps I see teams fall into is assuming that everyone on their team is aligned on what success looks like. The metaphor I like to use for this (inspired by a former colleague) is a silver burrito. Like the ones you see on the Chipotle billboards. 
17/ That burrito looks delicious because we’re all picturing our favorite burrito inside the silver wrapping. Yum! Similarly, projects often look delicious to team members because they're each imagining different goals — goals that they are personally most excited about.
18/ A product leader’s job is to unwrap the burrito and make sure everyone is seeing the same thing.
