P for Psychology

The king discusses the queen’s birthday party with the chef. The chef comes up with a plan that the king approves.

"Once upon a time, there was a man who knew that common goals usually are not common."

The notion of common goals

The notion of common goals is that two or more people join forces to pool their resources in order to reach a given goal.

The goal must be clear to everyone to enable a concerted effort. Goal formulation is often a shared process, but sometimes the process is more intuitive. It is important for everyone’s motivation to consider the purpose of the goal, in the sense of ‘Why would I do it?’ or ‘What’s in it for me?’ Thus, an optimal outcome involves the consideration of at least two individual purposes and one common purpose. The purpose statement is the fuel for the engine. If the participants are not motivated, the goal is irrelevant.

When we establish common goals the purpose statement should be a source of motivation. It makes a big difference whether the participants pursuing the common goal are acting voluntarily and as equals or whether they are, for example, employers and employees or executives and subordinates.

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