Set goals that help you win—not goals that keep you busy.
Most SMART goal setting is taught like a personal productivity trick: “What do you want to achieve this year?”
That’s fine… if your goal is to feel organized.
But if your goal is to win at work, SMART is not enough.
Because winning is not about doing more. Winning is about positioning—choosing the right game, choosing the right moves, and turning those choices into daily action.
That’s what Playing to Win is really about.
And that’s what this Shift Experience delivers.
The frustration your people don’t say out loud
Paolo is a smart professional. He sets goals every January. He writes them down. He breaks them into tasks. He tries hard.
Then the year happens.
Priorities change. Meetings multiply. Firefighting becomes normal. By mid-year, his goals become a document he avoids opening.
Paolo is not lazy. He’s not undisciplined.
He’s just aiming at the wrong thing.
He’s setting goals without strategy.
The problem: Busy Goals
We call it Busy Goals—goals that sound productive but don’t increase your chances of winning.
Busy Goals usually look like this:
- “Finish 3 courses.”
- “Improve communication.”
- “Be more proactive.”
- “Hit my KPI.”
They can be SMART. They can be measurable.
But they still fail because they don’t answer the real questions:
Where will you play?
How will you win?
What capabilities must you build?
What habits must change to make that real?
From SMART Goals to Winning Goals
This program upgrades goal setting from “things I want to do” to “moves that position me to win.”
Participants learn to:
- choose fewer, sharper goals
- connect goals to strategic choices
- build capability goals (not just output goals)
- create a weekly execution rhythm that survives real work
When to get this program
Bring this in when you see smart professionals who work hard but still feel stuck.
- They stay busy but don’t move forward
- Their goals are activities, not outcomes
- They start strong, then fade by February
- They execute tasks but don’t build advantage
- They don’t know what to say “no” to
Who this is for
- Individual contributors on growth tracks
- Supervisors and emerging leaders
- Middle managers who need focus and traction
- High potentials who need sharper positioning
- Teams preparing for a new year or new strategy cycle
The Three Shift Experiences People Pay For
1) From “What do I want?” to “Where will I play?”
Most goals start with desire. That’s why people choose goals that feel good but don’t change outcomes.
In this shift, participants learn to define their playing field. They clarify what kind of work they want to be known for, what problems they want to solve, and where they can create the most value in the next 6–12 months.
They also learn to stop setting goals based on guilt (“I should improve this”) and start setting goals based on positioning (“This is where I can win”). This makes goals feel less like homework and more like direction.
Tools they use and take back: Where-to-Play scan, opportunity list, “strength-to-role” map, focus filter.
2) From “SMART tasks” to “How will I win?” goals
SMART goals often become task lists. People hit milestones but don’t gain advantage. They stay the same person with a longer checklist.
In this shift, participants build goals that improve their ability to win. They learn the difference between:
- Output goals (what you will deliver)
- Capability goals (what you will become able to do repeatedly)
- Positioning goals (where you will be stronger than your peers)
They practice writing goals that include strategy, not just measurement—so the goal doesn’t just tell you what to do, it tells you how to compete smarter.
Tools they use and take back: How-to-Win goal builder, capability ladder, “advantage statement” template, tradeoff list (“what I will stop”).
3) From goals on paper to weekly execution rhythm
The biggest reason goals fail is not motivation.
It’s friction.
Work gets busy. People forget. Priorities collide. Goals lose oxygen.
In this shift, participants build a simple execution rhythm: weekly review, weekly choices, and weekly commitments. They learn to translate yearly direction into a weekly system that protects focus and drives progress even when the week gets messy.
They also learn how to communicate their goals to their manager and align expectations early—so their goals don’t get killed by surprises.
Tools they use and take back: Weekly Decision Loop, 12-week goal map, habit-to-goal tracker, manager alignment script.
What participants get
Before the workshop
- Onboarding booklet (shared language for Winning Goals)
- Goal Scorecard (self-assessment)
- Pre-work prompts to identify “Busy Goals” and focus gaps
During the workshop
- Guided goal-building worksheets
- Strategy-to-goals templates (Where to Play / How to Win)
- Peer practice and feedback (to sharpen clarity and commitment)
After the workshop
- 30-Day Goal Execution Project (apply goals in real work)
- Weekly email nudges (keep the rhythm alive)
- Certificate of completion
What changes after they return to work
You will see fewer “busy” goals and more strategic focus.
People will say no faster.
They will choose better projects.
They will build capabilities that compound.
They will show clearer progress week to week.
Not because they tried harder.
Because they aimed better.
If your team is stuck in meetings, misalignment, or slow decisions…
Let’s design one shift they can use immediately.
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