I love goals. And from the abundance of self-improvement books available nowadays, I would say we all do. We set ourselves so many throughout our lives, that we quite often even forget about them. I know this from the ones that discovered, after many months, in notebooks, papers, or on the human resource systems of corporations I have worked for. Goals that I either changed or forgot about along the way.
But does it even matter? I mean, do goals actually matter?
I realised that both for individuals as for organisations, moving forward matters more than the goal or the direction itself. One could of course argue that by moving in the wrong direction, surely the movement, the activity of doing something, must be of lower importance.
Allow us first to clarify some definitions. Let’s regard goals as the condition that, if met, makes an activity successful. Movement is the carrying out of the activity itself. Finally, direction or trajectory we will here define as the marginal value added an activity has in reaching the goal itself. Marginal in economic terms, as the value added by the last activity undertaken towards reaching a goal.
Furthermore, we assume here that the subject is intelligent enough to understand the difference between good and bad, between positive and negative. In other words, we are not talking about dimwits.
Goals exist of course for a reason. I would not commit myself to loosing fifteen kilograms because I am already fit, obviously. Nonetheless, a goal without action is inert, lifeless. It does not matter how important or noble the goal is if no movement occurs to actualise it. Movement, hence, becomes the engine of existence.
Similarly, a cook observing all ingredients laid out on the kitchen table can only bring the recipe into existence (the goal) by cooking. In this case, the delicious dish only exists in potentiality, until the expert hands of the cook transform the ingredients. Without the work, the action, the movement, the ingredients remain just that. Potentiality, what could be, is opposed to actuality, what is. Goals are potential; movement transforms potentiality into actuality.
When we walk, even without a clear direction or end goal, we create possibility. Opportunities appear not because they were part of the original plan but because movement exposes the mover to new environments, new contexts, and new connections. Stasis, in contrast, forecloses all potentiality. To stop moving is to relinquish the ability to create, to transform, to grow.
But what if movement brings us in the wrong direction? We find ourselves facing a paradox: even a wrong direction generates progress. It creates learning, adaptability, and resilience. Goals provide a benchmark; direction adds value. But movement, the process, is the first principle, the prime mover. Without it, neither goals nor direction can exist. Movement is action, and action is life.
I would furthermore argue that this applies to organisations as well. Movement, a business’ operations, are far more important than its goals. Organisations, upheld by the collective intelligence of its management, might have an easier life. Here the assumption being that the management understands the difference between goals and strategy, at least. And what I mean by this, using my previous definitions, a strategy, by outlining policies for organisational behaviour, is the direction, whilst the objectives, the KPIs, are the goals. I imagine how well we all are aware of how many organisation manage to cock this up.
Management teams can spend months, maybe years, perfecting a strategy. Fancy PowerPoints, endless brainstorming sessions, and consultants with exorbitant fees. But without actions, what’s the point? A beautifully crafted five-year plan is just another piece of corporate décor unless action accompanies it.
Most successful companies didn’t achieve their goals exactly as they planned. Amazon didn’t start with the goal of world domination, it started by selling books online. The movement, the process, is what evolved into the giant we know today. Was there direction? Sure. But movement was the catalyst.
That said, movement without purpose can create disaster. We’ve all seen organisations that implement changes for the sake of looking busy. New systems, new structures, endless rebranding exercises that accomplish absolutely nothing. That’s not movement; that’s chaos in a corporate suit. True movement, purposeful movement, generates momentum. It creates ripples that lead to evolution, growth, and transformation, even if the original goal is left in the dust.
So, what’s the takeaway here? Goals? Lovely. Direction? Handy. But movement? Essential! Without it, we are all just daydreaming. With it, we are alive, dynamic, and brimming with potential.
Facere est vivere. Doing is living.
I rely on third-party tools to keep improving. Accept or reject. Either way is cool.