Goals 2011 — Thinking in eight dimensions?
For those who have had the “pleasure” of working with me anytime in the last 10 years, you know that I’m a bit, umm, obsessed with goal-setting, tracking to-do lists, etc. And I search the cosmos regularly for the Platonic ideal of the perfect paradigm for goal-setting for personal use. Sure, lots of tools exist for the working world, or for subsets of the personal world (finances, for example). But very few of them resonate with me. Because my weakness isn’t about what goals to set, or figuring out plans to get from A to B, or even sticking to the plans. My bigger problem is having too many goals, and having to balance them against each other with finite time available to move forward, leading to a potential to be either unfocused (everything at once) or too myopic (rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic).
About three years ago I started working on a new strategy for goal-setting using large categories to help keep the balance going and it worked — to a certain extent. But what I was missing from the approach was an easy way to remember them, a visual that would reinforce my plan in my mind, a logic that I could not only grasp analytically but also visualize.
So as I’m updating my planning guide, kind of half “2011 resolutions” and half “getting my crap together”, I thought I would re-jig the categories and, at the same time, create the missing visual. Some of you have done the “colour” wheel of personality traits (based on Jungian psychology’s breakdown of major personality types), and there are a lot of different companies out there offering versions of it (similar to Meyers Briggs). I was introduced to it back in 2004/05, and it really resonated with me. So I wondered — could I merge the two into a “colour and goal-setting” wheel for me?
If you’ve seen it before, there are four main personality types that it works with — the “cool blue analyst”, the “fiery red leader”, the “sunshine yellow socializer”, or the “warm green harmonizer”. And while the primary colour is interesting, it is really only when you map all four together that you start to see useful information. So, for example, a blue analyst whose secondary colour is “red” (for leadership) is a very different personality from an analyst whose secondary colour is green.
Interestingly for me, I would normally have rated myself up until three years ago as Blue / Green / Red / Yellow; at work, though, I’m more Blue / Red / Green / Yellow or even B/R/Y/G. Over time, too, I think my personality at home and work has started to merge a bit more, probably leaving me with strong Blue and Reds, and weaker Greens and Yellows.
The goal though is basically to have all four colours about equal — balance.
(The danger of course is one colour overshadowing the rest — the blue analyst who is so obsessed with numbers and analysis that he can’t see people; the red leader who becomes the dictator and doesn’t listen to anyone else; the yellow social butterfly who flits from party to party, never accomplishing anything; or the overly-sensitive green harmonizer who cries while watching long-distance commercials.).
So, why am I posting anything about this? Because I’m interested in feedback.
For me, I’m still primarly an analytical blue — and I think that maps to a combination of lifelong learning and planning / organizational needs. Not sure “intellect” is the right word, but something “cerebral”, or even perhaps just “curiousity” for a different bent.
Red is the expansionary side for me, how I go beyond who I am today — a combination of leadership (on whatever front) plus career (a specific front, of sufficient import to be listed separately, I think). It also includes expanding my horizons through travel …I toyed with making the two headings simply leadership (including career) and travel, but I don’t think I travel enough for it to be a separate 1/8th of my planning. But overall it is about “role enlargement”…
Green to me is about connections, both through relationships (family and friends) and through connection with my self (spiritual, health, etc.).
Finally, yellow is more about “expression” — a shared expression through social activities, or a more personalized expression through creativity (writing, cooking maybe, etc.)
Here is the diagram…I welcome your thoughts!
Hey,
This is very interesting. Right away, I thought that there was a component missing – that would be ‘you’ as a father. I get that that would likely be captured under the green sphere (in general) but I think being a dad enables/strengthens different areas – leadership, analytical, social. It’s not just ‘who you strive to be as a dad’ (green) but moreso, who you ARE as a dad as well, and how many lenses/angles there are to that. Just a thought.
I think the blue section is missing something. Being analytical isn’t just about learning, organizing, or being intellectual. I think there’s a ‘feedback’ component missing. What’s the point in being analytical if you don’t offer your ‘analysis’ or perceptions in return? It’s about interpreting, digesting and divulging your analysis so that OTHERs can benefit from it as well. Almost a ‘teacher’ component – although that could be close to leader too……!?!?
For the red – would ‘expansion’ of yourself also include personal goals – financial, personal (like travel), emotional, physical or is it purely concrete things like “career advancement” and/or “seeing x country by 2020”?
I think the green is good – what everyone strives for, no? More enhanced relationships with others and a better familiarity/comfort with oneself. A good combo!
Yellow – expression. The only question I would have is about Andrea actually. Would a ‘shared expression’ be one that the two of you created? If yes, do you know what you’re aiming for? If no, where do you see Andrea – your relationship etc – fitting into this wheel?
Hmmm…me as a father or husband is a solid green element, I think, or alternatively, cross-cutting across all of the wheel. I guess I was thinking "green" in terms of how I connect / bond with Jacob and Andrea, ways to strengthen the so-called quality time together. Oddly enough, even having Andrea back at work means that we spend more time together since we commute together. With Jacob, I have found it hard to connect as much as I would like with him in the first 18 months as I get stressed with some of his repeated illnesses and subsequent crankiness. Andrea has been carrying much more of the workload with him than 50%, but I'm hoping as he gets older, and I get more experience as a dad, that bond will be easier to forge. Which isn't to say that the terrible twos will be a cakewalk, just that I think I will relate to him differently now that he is more, umm, interactive? But the rest of the wheel is about who I am and who I express myself to be…which will be, fortunately or not, the role model that Jacob will see. I'm much more conscious of that now than ever…almost a philosophical thought of "what would I want my legacy to be to my son if I was to die tomorrow?". Not in a dark, depressing way, but more embracing of light. I think he will have a mischievous sense of humour, a bit of a clown perhaps, and I suspect I'll encourage that cuz I find it just so darn cute. Of course, when he's 15, I might not find his wisecracks as funny! 🙂
For the missing blue part, I tend to think of that as part leadership but also more about expression and creativity — how to take the synthesis and send it outward, to communicate and share it with others. It's one of the reasons for the website, and my plans for the HR guide, etc. But you're right, I think it could be a blue element, and would be for most people…for me, though, I think it ties into my creative writing desire, so I tend to think of it as yellow.
For red, the expansion is about driving to achieve certain goals … financial, career, personal. But I think the emotional and physical ones are more intangibles that fit under the green category. I hadn't thought of it that way at first, but it means my "measures" of success (hehehe can you tell I work in performance measurement?) will have to be different in those categories. Red does look to be more objective, more concrete. I wonder if it would be for others?
Shared expressions in Yellow — not necessarily "shared" between Andrea and I. Obviously, as a compatible couple, the goals can't be widely divergent — if I want to be a dictator who rules the corporate world and she wants to be Ms. International Development NGO, we might have a wee problem. But our goals are not that divergent at their cores, nor incompatible when they do diverge. But I've always felt that one has to be a whole person before they become a half of a couple, or even part of a family of three. And some of that is why I'm rebooting my goal-setting. Over the last two years, I've felt a bit lost, focusing a lot on "getting by" and "surviving" the initial roller coast ride with post-wedding adjustments and Jacob's arrival. I really haven't felt like "myself" as a good portion of me has fallen by the wayside…not all of that is bad, obviously, it's part of being a husband and father.
But I also spend too much time thinking about my goals, and not enough time actually achieving them. This website is a good example … I started designing it almost 8 years ago, even paid a friend to design some initial logo / layout stuff for me. But each year I added a layer of complexity, or something else I wanted to do with it, and never really "finished" it, never really had it up and running. So, this past fall, I put some more time and effort into it. It isn't perfect, it is far from where I want it to be. But it's a functional start.
As for Andrea, I don't see her "fitting" within the wheel, more like her and Jacob surround the wheel, overlap it in places, cross-cut in some places and with voids in others. Obviously I would treat any of Andrea's views with more gravitas than others', but it also isn't something she'll "bond" with…she's more instinctive, more reactionary to her surroundings and life. More spontaneous than I am, for example. So while we are both blues, the "red" for me drives me to focus on the goals and the goal-setting process; her "green" secondary is more about happiness and fulfillment, I think. More about the journey, less about the destination…whereas I need to know the destination before I can enjoy the journey. 🙂
Lots to think about though…
Hi Paul!
So, at first glance the HBDI tool popped into my head. Check out the attachment http://www.hbdi.com/WholeBrainProductsAndServices/thehbdi.cfm.
The Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument, for me and many others in my class, had a long lasting resonance with us. My prof, who’s also a consultant and ex-fed public servant, facilitated it for us. He was great!
But yeah, I liked your diagram. It made total sense. If I were to change anything, it would be to change swap “body and soul” with “social”. The groupings go well together that way?? Depending on what you mean by them.
So, what are your goals for 2011?
I like the HBDI stuff, based on same source that I started with too, a Jungian model that a company in Britain seems to have developed. I saw it as part of "Insights Discovery", a company out of Toronto.
Interesting re: body and soul being yellow "expression" and "social" being more about connections and relationships. It has started me thinking that perhaps the eight categories are solid choices, but that the location around the wheel would depend on the person. For me, the body and soul is more about being connected to myself; social is more about shared expression with others, even if going to a movie or a dinner party for example…definitely takes "yellow" energy for me. But for someone else, perhaps a solid green primary, social could easily be green for them, about building connections and lasting relationships, establishing or reinforcing a sense of community. Equally, career could go just about anywhere on the wheel depending on the person's interests. Hmm…that's the kind of great comment I was looking for, one that gets me thinking! 🙂
I'm glad to see that cooking made its way onto your list!
I like the way that each category appears to have the same weight … it presents a balanced approach to "getting one's crap together." 🙂
dear Paul,
in Geneva now, on Trade & Development, much amused by your CIDA=DFAIT merging analysis, sent to me by Anil Gupta, also Env Spec, now in Stockholm. I recognized yr style and law history, but have forgotten yr last name. RSVP. plse. good luck for 2013.
Ralph (ex BMB, CIDA, environment)