It’s December, and the office air is full of that end-of-year familiar mix of frustration and disappointment. You and your team have been running hard for months, but as you measure the gap between the year’s goals and where you are today, it’s clear: you aren’t going to accomplish them in time. You start to question everything you’ve done. “What’s the point of even setting goals for next year?”
Here’s the hard truth: most of what we think we know about goal-setting is flawed for complex, next-level work. Let’s take a look at some common myths:
This leads us to double down on effort and “holding people more accountable” when we’re off course, but it rarely leads to transformational results. Achieving “next-level” impact requires us to work differently—not just harder.
We often focus on strict adherence to the initial goal and action plan, thinking it shows commitment. But sticking to what we thought was the right plan 6 months ago can mean missing out on new information. The best leaders hold themselves accountable not to a rigid path but to the evolving potential of their team’s work.
Clear goals are crucial, but often complex work requires ongoing experimentation, reflection, learning, and adaptability. Transformation work is not just about setting goals, it must include running experiments and recalibrating the plan based on new learning.
So, what’s the actual truth? Teams don’t level up by following a perfect plan—they level up by being relentlessly adaptive and committed to learning. This is how you create results that outpace your expectations and take you somewhere you’ve never been.
With these tougher truths in mind, here are three powerful moves that will elevate your team’s results:
Next-level work requires next-level thinking. Allow yourself and your team the time to zoom out and respond to powerful questions before any goal-setting begins. Example questions: How might we generate 10x growth in the new product line by the end of next year? If we were 10x bolder, what would we be talking about right now? If we committed to only doing “next-level” work this year, what would we start/stop/continue doing?
Commit to a culture that values learning over being busy – and put a structure in place that supports it. Create a weekly “learning-focused” meeting where you only discuss meaningful shifts, experiments, or adjustments (not routine tasks). Set experiments, not just goals, along with action plans to include writing the hypothesis, executing the experiment, reporting out what you learned, and designing the next experiment based on the learning. Ask powerful questions and encourage people to voice challenges, ideas, or bold moves.
Set aside 90 minutes each week (set it on your calendar as a recurring meeting to reserve the time) to step out of day-to-day tasks and prioritize time to execute your goals and experiments and reflect on what’s truly working or not. Encourage your team to do the same.
With these shifts, you’re not just working toward completing a goal; you're leading your team to redefine how they think, approach challenges, and build resilience, creating a true “Next Level” foundation for the new year. Commit to building a way of working that takes you places you never expected in 2025, and ditch the disappointment of the past.
High-performing teams can challenge a process they like - even one that works well today - in the name of innovation and efficiency. By shifting your approach and starting this conversation, you are taking a massive step toward a more effective team. The cost of inaction - both for your team’s growth and for the organization’s success - is too high.