When it comes to goal setting there is something irresistibly appealing to leaders about setting stretch goals. Just selecting one feels like an achievement.

And who can resist the idea that with enough energy and focus, meeting those stretch goals will transform the organisation, or turn the manager into an acknowledged leader. Yet it is better to resist this siren call.

Thinking that achieving a big objective will transform us, or our team, overnight is not very realistic. Change and performance improvement takes time and persistence, and it’s best accomplished through achieving a series of small wins by setting achievable goals.

Achievable goals are those for which success is highly probable. The most effective way to achieve them is to break big tasks down into small steps.

The success of behaviour-change programmes such as Weight Watchers and Alcoholics Anonymous is due in large part to their philosophy of setting small, achievable goals. The seeming impossibility of lifetime abstinence is scaled down to a smaller intermediate goal of not drinking alcohol for the next 24 hours. The effort of reaching the overall goal is reduced, and it becomes achievable.

The same applies for setting goals in business. The enormity of the task isn’t overwhelming if annual targets are broken down to monthly targets, monthly to weekly, and weekly to daily. It is human nature to focus on deadlines that are close at hand, so people with a monthly target will work harder in the last few days of the month than in the earlier part. By chunking down to more immediate targets you not only make the goal appear more easily achievable, but you also bring the target deadline closer. This focuses attention on what needs to be done.

Some businesses use this approach very effectively. For example, retail and contact centre sales people will often have their monthly targets broken down into weekly and daily targets. In a similar vein, the construction industry also takes the same approach. For example, the construction of a large pleasure yacht may take three years, but normally there are frequent milestones (construction targets) planned during the build – often as frequent as fortnightly.

From the perspective of improving performance where an individual or team are some way from the desired level of performance, the same process of breaking down big tasks into small steps applies. Rather than expect performance to dramatically improve to the significantly higher level (which virtually never happens without any other intervention), it is better to set a progression of achievable sub-goals leading towards the achievement of the final goal.

This is a step-by-step approach, because the most effective change processes are incremental. If your goal is to lose 10 kg in weight, then the first sub-goal might be to lose 2 kg. The next sub-goal might to be sustaining that weight loss for a month. And then the next sub-goal might be to lose a further 2 kg – and so on. Without achieving these small wins along the way, you’re going to give up well before you’ve reached your stretch goal of 10 kg. But by setting achievable goals along the way, and achieving a series of small wins, you greatly enhance the likelihood that you’ll reach your final goal.