Phisosophical phriday - objectives of desire

Objectives are king. If strategy is the organisational or personal journey ahead, we must truly understand our objectives to move ahead confidently in the right direction, systematically measuring progress towards those objectives. 

If the objectives are uncertain, well, any path will do, and our measures are largely pointless: we may know how far we've come and how much fuel we've consumed so far but we're not sure how much further we need to go, nor in what direction and at what speed. That's sub-optimal.

So far so good.

But what if the objectives are hidden, in conflict, or not what they seem? There are clearly potential problems with objective-led approaches - a little seething cluster of problems in fact. 

So, then, it seems objectives have objectives. 

'Ideal' objectives are:

• Clear: it helps to know where we're going and what we're hoping to achieve, in sufficient detail to navigate towards the goals while avoiding wrong turns, hazards and diversions. The objectives should therefore be sufficiently specific, precise and accurate for our purposes.
  
  
• Contextual: for the journey ahead, we'd like to have a routemap showing those diversions and hazards, any obstacles and shortcuts, and preferably some idea about other traffic, roadworks, speedbumps etc. on the assumption that we don't have the entire road to ourselves.
   
• Consistent: both internally (various business or personal objectives form a coherent, mutually supportive and comprehensive set) and externally (the objectives don't conflict with our obligations to third parties and human society).
   
• Stable: not necessarily cast in concrete but changing slowly or predictably enough to enable sensible planning. We need to know the lay of the land and maintain awareness of changes, preferably early-warning of anything significant ahead.  Uncertainties concerning our objectives means risk.
  
  
• Valuable: there has to be some material benefit attracting us towards our destiation, something we believe is worth achieving, worth investing in ... otherwise inertia wins. Value is key to determining the amount we're willing to invest to get there, plus our priorities and intended rate of progress. With finite resources (fuel), we have important choices to make.
  
  
• Agreed: for any team effort, there should be consensus among those directing, leading and participating in the efforts to achieve the objectives, suggesting acceptance that the objectives are indeed achievable (or at least worth striving towards) plus approval or authorisation to proceed. Even on an individual or personal basis, considering and determining our objectives is a key part of resolving to move deliberately ahead, rather than staying still (inertia) or drifting aimlessly about the place. 

That's enough for now. I'll circle back through that cluster of problems and objective objectives at some point. At least, that's my intention, my goal, my current objective, something to ponder over the weekend ...