Netscape 1.1 or better is recommended for this exercise.

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Background

All of us have goals in life. Yours might be to do well in school, have a nice car, or enjoy life more. The problem with having goals is that they are often abstract, which makes it hard to know exactly what our goal is and when we have achieved it. Does having a nice car mean having one without torn upholstery and dents, or maybe one with an airbag, or maybe a 1996 model?

Without touchstones to know when goals are achieved, we often spend much of our life wondering about, never knowing exactly were we are going or what we're trying to achieve.

In most bookstores, self-help sections contain books that describe why it's important to write down and keep track of our goals so we can keep on a directed path. But few actually describe how to take an abstract goal and bring it into the realm of concrete statements that allow us to know whether the goal has been achieved. One of the first authors who did this was Robert Mager (1984) in his book entitled Goal Analysis. The following activity will guide you in the process of taking an abstract goal and generating a list of behaviors that, when completed, signify the goal has been achieved.

Before we do the goal analysis, it's important to be able to distinguish the difference between a goal (a starting point) and a behavior (the ending point). As mentioned before, goals tend to be abstract or "fuzzy".Behaviors are concrete and measurable, and are seen the same way by any two people. Can you measure if someone has a "nice car"? What you consider a nice car is probably not exactly the same as everyone else, and that makes it hard to agree upon what constitutes a "nice car". If instead of a "nice car" you specified the behavior as "own a 1996 model", then everyone can determine (by looking at the car registration) if the owner has achieved the desired behavior.

Practice

Goals vs. Behaviors

In the following list, click the circle to identify if the statements is showing a goal or behavior. Remember, it is considered a behavior if we can see or hear someone doing it, and if people agree upon whether it is being done. We're not concerned with how well it is being done, just whether or not it could be measured objectively.

Goal Behavior Statement
1. State the definition of a microcomputer.
2. Learn about software programs.
3. Circle the verbs in a sentence.
4. Feel a sense of fellowship with fellow employees.
5. Exhibit a dedication to one's occupation.
6. Differentiate between properly and improperly assembled computerized work stations.
7. Fill out a travel request.
8. Sing the company song.

Mager, R. (1985). Goal Analysis. (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Fearon/Pitman.