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Definition and Structure: Mission, Goals vs Projects
gandoe | Feb 8 2007
Hi All - I've come to realize - on yet another revamping of a Mission/Goals - GTD system that hasn't worked - that for me, the definitions and distinctions across various levels of Mission, Goals and Projects are absolutely critical. The purpose, structure and description of each (for me) need to be absolutely clear, otherwise - well, otherwise my carefully thought out system fails again. For example - from GtD, I see that projects should have Yet it seems to me like that should be the structure of a Goal, not a Project. Can anyone provide a succinct description of their mission, goal and project constructs? For example: Goals might include a SMART section (specific, measurable, actionable, r-somethingable, and timely); they might be a future statement (I have, I am, etc) using a definitive verb, etc. Projects may have it's own set of verbs (as might NextActions) that describe the specific activities of the projects (or the specific physical actions of the NextAction) TIA 5 Comments
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 re: Clean EdgesSubmitted by Todd V on February 8, 2007 - 7:25pm.
I keep my Mission & Goals on a sheet with David Allen's 30-50,000ft checklist in a Checklists folder; and I review these checklists -- when needed -- with my Weekly Review to see if there are any new projects or actions I need to add to my system. But I must say that many of the Projects in my Projects folder look very much like mission & goals. They do because these are the things that need greater clarity and organization, the things that need to be whittled down into sub-projects and next actions. I think what it really gets down to is the relationship of projects and sub-projects. Sub-projects end up being more of the grunt-work of the project - the 10,000ft stuff, that is more specific, targeted, and concrete. But these sub-projects relate to the projects that govern them (20,000ft); and those governing projects may relate to higher-level projects, and ultimately to higher Mission & Goals (30-50,000ft stuff). An example would be, I am an Outstanding Scholar <-- 30-40,000ft - Project I think there are two key things: (1) Having a system that allows you to see these vertical relationships so you can maintain that vertical focus when you're doing them. We could debate what to call each of the levels above (e.g. Mission, Goal, Project, Sub-Project, Action), but what matters most is that we see the vertical relationship between them. (2) Regardless of whether missions and goals are kept with projects & sub-projects, that -- wherever they are -- they get reviewed regularly for refining the focus and adding new items to the active system. For me, the top-three items above are all things that take more than one step to complete, which means they are projects; and so they are all in my Projects folder. But it's also possible to keep perhaps the top one or two in another place and not call them Projects, but Goals or Mission. But as long as the two key things are taken care of, that should keep everything on track. That's what's working for me, anyway. Todd V » POSTED IN:
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