Consequential Achievement

Happy Friday,

Pick a goal, any goal. Could be to earn more money, grow your team, increase profitability, reduce employee turnover, improve leadership, increase the stock price, lose weight, whatever. Pick anything you want to happen. 

Most people approach their goals in one of two ways: a casual pursuit (I know what I want, I just haven’t got it yet), or they prepare a plan and regularly track progress. 

Organizations usually employ the latter. But even the best plans end up restraining possible outcomes because plans are limited by 1) what’s known at the time the plan is written, 2) what’s believed to be reasonably achievable, and 3) by assuming a conventional approach. These presumptions make a plan sound reasonable and help earn stakeholders' acceptance, which is necessary, but they still act as constraints.

There's actually a third way to approach goals, and it’s pretty next level - it's called Consequential Achievement.

Let’s say your goal is to lose 15 pounds by year's end.

The Casual Approach – There’s time, but you should start educating yourself about healthy weight loss. 

The Detailed Planning Approach – You’ll achieve this goal by losing 3 lbs. a month, so tomorrow take a 1-hour walk, skip breakfast, and start tracking your monthly progress.

The Consequential Achievement Approach – If you don’t drop 20 pounds by October 1^st you’ll lose your home, forfeit your bank account, and your dog will be shot.

BOOM! Out the door you go in your slacks and street shoes to run five miles in the afternoon heat. By morning you’re already an expert on healthy weight loss and by October 1 you’re 25 lbs. lighter. More weight in half the time. Goal achieved. Dog saved.

People fail to achieve goals all the time because failure is relatively inconsequential. Low consequence -> low sacrifice. But when the consequences of failure are re-framed as absolutely intolerable, suddenly great clarity, creativity, and urgency emerge, revealing another level of what's possible.

Most people never have to face such godawful consequences in real life. But, if you've bet it all to create a business from scratch, you know, and could've written this as well as me. (Respect)

Punchline: Consequential Achievement is a valuable mental model anyone can employ to enhance brainstorming. Just pick a business or personal goal, double it, and shorten the timeline. Then, imagine in detail the worst conceivable consequences of failure. Immersed in extreme urgency, your thoughts shake free of the normal constraints, revealing new actions and strategies to consider. It definitely works.

There you have it. Good luck, and have a terrrrrrrific weekend,

Dave

Your feedback and blowback are welcome: dave@goodnewsfriday.com

All past topics are still available at @goodnewsfriday.com

Written by me, not ChatGPT, with speed assist by Grammarly.