Clarifying Goals

The fourth area in which a team needs to be aligned to move into stage three involves goal setting. Earlier chapters provided several examples of how clear, measurable goals, which are tied to the strategy of the overall organization, enable a team to cut through the clutter and begin carrying out the job it is being paid to do. During the alignment we have been describing, the senior R&D team did not get into this area, since the top corporate management team was preparing for a full-scale review of the business strategy. Ideally, the revised strategy and the operational goals that flowed from it would have been in place before the teams were aligned. But, in the real world, the road to high performance does not always follow a straight line, and, on the positive side, if a team goes through an alignment prior to a strategy session, they will be able to discuss goals with a greater level of authenticity.