Goal Setting studies from the field of Psychology
The act of setting goals is one of the most thoroughly studied aspects of human behavior. A major review of the literature concluded that the beneficial effect of goal setting on task performance is one of the most robust and replicable findings in the psychological literature. Positive or partially positive effects were shown by 94% of the studies.
Researchers found . . . "the median improvement in performance (e.g. productivity, quality) that resulted from goal setting was 16%. Combined with the use of monetary incentives . . . [researchers] . . . found . . . goal setting improved performance by a median of more than 40%.”
Four mechanisms were identified that contributed to these dramatic effects. Goal setting:
- Directed attention and action
- Mobilized energy expenditure/effort
- Prolonged effort over time
- Motivated the individual to create strategies, to think about how they were going to achieve their goals.
As many as 99 out of 105 studies found that specific, concrete goals led to better performance than vague, easy, or "do your best" sorts of goals.
Impact of Running Start™: Preliminary Observations
1. Running Start™ produces growth and transformation. Typically people become self-starters – more focused, more committed and more independent. They begin the process of developing realistic self-understanding.
2. Running Start™ provides a person with a snapshot of their current thinking about how to achieve the life they want. They can update their ideas as they change over time (sometimes frequently) as their developmental stage, work habits, and knowledge of resources and career options matures.
3. When people facilitate their own planning they become more thoughtful about their futures. They learn how to ask questions that move their process forward in constructive ways. They experience the self-esteem that derives from making a contribution to their own development. And by acting in this way they learn to think better.
4. Running Start™ enables coaches, teachers and parents to provide individualized support. The methodically constructed written plan stimulates insights to be shared, check points to be followed up on, and triggers for identifying help with specific needs and resources.
*Note: "Goal Setting and Task Performance: 1969-1980” Locke, E. A.; Shaw, K.N.; Saari, L.M. and Latham, G.P, “Psychological Bulletin, 90, 125-152.”