Fourth Day of POM : Pearls Galore !

And here are some more pearls of wisdom from our 4th encounter with Dr. Mandi

Summary of tasks on the board and some action

Pygmalion Effect 

Pygmalion was a sculptor who lived in Cyprus. Women who lived on Cyprus didn't stay virtuous, so Pygmalion decided to live alone and made a perfect sculpture, Galatea. During the Aphrodite feast, thanks to Pygmalion`s prayers, the sculpture turned into a real person. This was called The Pygmalion effect.

Pygmalion in action

The Pygmalion effect shows that if we want something enough, we'll get it.

The Pygmalion effect is also an important instrument in management theory. It makes managers be aware, that the success of their employees depends not only on qualification, personal qualities or working environment. Manager always has to believe in his people and expect them to achieve the best results. In such case the subordinates will always feel this trust and demonstrate their best skills and abilities in their work.

Also, the greater the expectation placed upon people, the better they perform. The corollary of the Pygmalion effect is the Golem effect, in which low expectations lead to a decrease in performance.

SMART Goals

Smart Goals

Specific

The first term stresses the need for a specific goal over and against a more general one. This means the goal is clear and unambiguous; without vagaries and platitudes. To make goals specific, they must tell a team exactly what is expected, why is it important, who’s involved, where is it going to happen and which attributes are important.

Measurable

The second term stresses the need for concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of the goal. The thought behind this is that if a goal is not measurable, it is not possible to know whether a team is making progress toward successful completion.

 

Attainable

The third term stresses the importance of goals that are realistic and attainable. While an attainable goal may stretch a team in order to achieve it, the goal is not extreme. That is, the goals are neither out of reach nor below standard performance, as these may be considered meaningless. 

Relevant

Relevant goals (when met) drive the team, department, and organization forward. A goal that supports or is in alignment with other goals would be considered a relevant goal.

Time-bound

The fifth term stresses the importance of grounding goals within a time frame, giving them a target date. A commitment to a deadline helps a team focus their efforts on completion of the goal on or before the due date. 

All these were taken care of in the Single Block tower task and hence the expected goal was achieved timely in both open eyed and close eyed scenarios.

And one more observation that we could draw from the tower task was:-

Goal Set > Potential > Goal achieved > History

The Goal Set should be such that it helps us to realize our true Potential.

Generally the Goal Achieved is less than our Potential, because our potential continuously keeps on changing, and we always keep on striving to reach that target.

The Goal Achieved has to be more than the Historic Goals achieved. If this is not the case, it will eliminate the scope of growth and improvement.

Goals Curve

I hope by now even you guys must be looking forward to the next roller coaster ride as much as I am! Cheers !