How is tactics different from strategy? What is the difference between these two concepts? A wise man once said that you need to think strategically and act tactically. Strategy is over general concept, a plan that can consist of several tactics. Tactics, in turn, is a focused part of this. general plan. While these terms were originally used primarily in a military context, they are now used in a wide variety of everyday areas, including business. What is the difference between tactics and strategy, such seemingly interchangeable concepts?

Main difference

Strategy differs from tactics in that completely different tactics can be constituent parts unified strategy. For example, in order to win a certain market share, you need to create. To do this, you can use such brand promotion tools as advertising with the involvement of a celebrity (tactic). The strategy includes planning both in time of war and in the peaceful field, and tactics is concerned with the implementation of goals, is responsible for the quality and effectiveness of the chosen techniques.

Strategy and tactics in business

How is tactics different from strategy? Often these concepts are interrelated and interchangeable in an arbitrary manner, so it is sometimes very difficult to differentiate between them. In simple terms, the head is responsible for the strategy, everything else is responsible for the tactics. The main thing is that they work in tandem, otherwise there can be no question of efficiency in achieving the goal. If there is a strategy without tactics, then this means that there are many thoughts and ideas, but at the same time there are no certain necessary actions.

If we consider the sphere of business, then every self-respecting organization needs big "wings" (broad strategic thinking) and big "legs" (specific steps to achieve goals) to succeed. To illustrate this clearly, we can give a specific example for a particular industry. For example, the company's goal is to become the leader in terms of sales in the market segment it occupies. It will be tactically correct to offer economically more profitable solutions than competitive enterprises without compromising the quality of service.

The art of strategy

The word strategy comes from the Greek word "strategos" which translates to "art" in general. It is often confused with tactics (the Greek word "taktike"), which translates as "army organization". The original meaning of the word "tactics" is "order". The Chinese general Sun Tzu described the difference this way: "All people can see the tactics used to win, but no one can see the strategy that brought about the great victory." The difference between the concepts of "tactics" and "strategy" often lies in the fact that the strategy is designed for long term, and tactics - for the short term.

In the modern sense, these concepts go beyond military terminology and can be used as definitions for various business practices. At its core, strategy is the mental aspect of planning, changing, or organizing something. It defines the goals to be achieved, as well as ideas for achieving these goals. Planning is followed by specific tactically thought-out actions. Tactics includes the methods and means used to carry out the plan.

Features of the implementation of goals

The implementation of the strategic goal can be purposefully and consciously improved over time. Accordingly, the plan to achieve the goals and objectives will also change. The gradual implementation and implementation of what was conceived, as well as the knowledge gained during this time, increase the overall strategic understanding and provide guidance on how to best facilitate the process of achieving the set goals.

Strategy and tactics: what's the difference?

A wise man named Sun Tzu once said that strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory, and tactics without strategy is noise before defeat. What is the difference between tactics and involves the definition of the basic functions of the organization and the use of effective combinations of capabilities and management systems that will be used to achieve goals.

The strategy is what will or will not be done. French scholar Michel de Certeau suggests that strategy essentially creates its own autonomous space. Tactics in the form of specific measures makes it possible to implement the strategic plan. You cannot achieve victory alone.

Strategic planning

Quite often, people confuse strategy and tactics, thinking that the two terms are interchangeable in the field, but they are not. Strategy answers the question of what we want to achieve, and tactics - how we are going to achieve our goals. This is the difference between tactics and strategy. Thus, the strategy acts as a guide to a series of actions. Many small business owners spend a lot of time planning their business success without realizing how easy it can be. At the same time, it is important to learn to distinguish between such concepts as strategic and

How is tactics different from strategy? The difficulty lies in the fact that both definitions are closely related and, unfortunately, are often used interchangeably. However, the strategy is inextricably linked with the processes of thinking necessary for planning changes, choosing a future course of action, and so on. It defines in general terms the desired goals and why they need to be achieved. includes business ideas that determine in a global sense what can be achieved as a result of achieving the set goals.

Tactics are specific actions that are taken in the process of implementing the chosen strategy. They constitute what must be done, in what order, by what means, and human resources. You can use a range of tactics that include many different actions and efforts aimed at achieving a common goal. Tactics usually require the involvement of the organization as a whole. During strategic planning it is necessary to determine what specific result you want to achieve (your goals) and how you will evaluate these results. When compiling a list of specific strategic goals, it is important to pay close attention to the tactics that are planned to be used to achieve them.

Razmik Aydinyan, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor of St. Petersburg state university means of communication
Tatyana Shipunova, Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Senior Lecturer, St. Petersburg State University

A lot is said and written about strategy, but few people explain what it is, what is invested in the scope and content of this concept.

The term "strategy" began to be used in management in the 1960s, apparently under the influence of I. Ansoff's book.

In this paper, strategy refers to the way in which resources are used. Author of one of the most best books on management, J. O "Shaughnessy agrees with this interpretation.

Since the way the resources are used is set in the budget of the organization, it turns out that the strategy is budget planning. P. Doyle defines this concept in a similar way: “Strategy is a set of decisions made by management on the allocation of enterprise resources”.

However, such an understanding contradicts the practice of using this word both in management and in everyday language. There are many strategic issues that are not directly related to the allocation of resources.

Another definition of this concept is given by A. Chandler: "Strategy is the definition of the main long-term goals of the enterprise, the course of action and the allocation of resources."

But if strategy is about setting goals, then what is goal setting? R. Oldcorn does not give a clear definition, but from the context of his book it turns out that he understands by strategy "the way to achieve our goals."

But this is more of a tactic than a strategy. According to the generally accepted word usage, the strategy determines where, in what direction to move, where to steer. And tactics determine how, in what way to move, what specific actions to take.

The word "strategic" modern management used in two meanings:

1. strategic means "having a long time perspective"; in this sense, this word is used in planning theory, when plans are divided into strategic (or long-term) and tactical (or current), as well as in decision theory, where plans are divided into strategic and operational-tactical;
2. strategic means relating to the general path of movement towards the goal or setting the direction (course, route) of movement towards the goal; in this sense, the word is used in the doctrine of different strategies organizations - some adhere to the strategy of formation (at the initial stage of their development), others - the strategy of survival, etc.

Strategy- this is the definition of the general path (direction, course) of movement towards a long-term goal. This understanding of the term captures both meanings of the adjective "strategic".

Tactics- this is a way of moving along the general path to the goal, that is, a form of implementing the strategy.

The table below clearly shows the possible types of the main internal goal, the corresponding types of strategies and types of tactical tasks, the solution of which ensures the implementation of the strategy and the achievement of the goal.

In the literature, due to the confusion of the concepts of "strategy" and "tactics", there is no clear classification of these phenomena. The tactical tasks of "growth", "expansion" and "diversification" are presented as independent strategies, and without a clear distinction and allocation of their types. And the expansion strategy is not named at all. Only types of diversification are singled out. These tactics (or tactical tasks) cannot be called strategies, if only because there are firms that simultaneously use the expansion of the market, and the expansion of production, and growth. But at this stage of development of the company, there can be only one strategy, because, going towards the goal, it is impossible to move in different directions. There can be only one general path or course of movement towards the goal. At the same time, by implementing a unified expansion strategy, one can simultaneously resort to various tactics or (which is the same thing) simultaneously solve several different tactical tasks.

In conclusion, we note that a correctly set goal, a sound strategy and well-thought-out tactics help an organization successfully cope with many difficulties and problems. Footnotes

1 Ansoff I. Corporate Strategy. N.-Y., 1965.

2 O "Shaughnessy J. Principles of organization of company management. M., 1999.

3 Doyle P. Management: strategy and tactics. St. Petersburg: "Piter", 1999.

4 Cit. by: O "Shaughnessy J. Principles of organization of company management.

5 Oldcorn R. Fundamentals of management. Moscow: Finpress, 1999.

A tactical goal is not a general one, but the most specific and necessarily realistically feasible goal, the implementation of which allows you to get closer to achieving a strategic one.

Dictionary of business terms. Akademik.ru. 2001 .

See what "Tactical goal" is in other dictionaries:

tactical target- taktinis taikinys statusas T sritis Gynyba apibrėžtis Taikinys, turintis taktinę reikšmę (taktinių karinių vienetų mūšyje). atitikmenys: engl. tactical target rus. tactical target … Artilerijos terminų žodynas

The significance of the subject of the article is called into question. Please show in the article the significance of its subject by adding evidence of significance to it according to particular significance criteria or, in the event that private significance criteria for ... ... Wikipedia

TARGET- planned cut, unity of motives, means. C. is formed when evaluating ways to satisfy the corresponding need, has a value-rational nature. C is exclusively social. phenomenon, inherent only to a person as an acting subject ... Russian sociological encyclopedia

Aviation tactical missile Kh-29l- 1980 X 29L missile is designed to destroy ground targets in simple weather conditions such as: solid aircraft shelters, fixed railway and highway bridges, industrial buildings, warehouses, concreted runways. Development of the X 29 rocket with ... ... Military Encyclopedia

Guided tactical medium-range missile X-59 "Gadfly"- Guided medium-range tactical missile X 59 "Gadfly" 1985 Medium-range tactical missile X 59 is designed to destroy small-sized ground targets, the coordinates of which are determined before the missile is launched. Developed in the ICD ... ... Military Encyclopedia

Aviation tactical missile Kh-29t- 1980 X 29t missile is designed to destroy visually visible ground and surface targets such as: reinforced concrete shelters, stationary railway and highway bridges, industrial buildings, warehouses, concrete runways, ships and landing ... ... Military Encyclopedia

Aviation tactical missile Kh-25ml- 1981 Aviation tactical missile X 25ml is designed to destroy small-sized mobile and stationary ground (surface) targets: radars and launchers of missile systems, aircraft in open parking lots and in light shelters, light bridges and ... ... Military Encyclopedia

Debt provision targeting- tactical goal of monetary policy used by the FRS from October 1982 to 1989 Department of Securities Oumag of the Federal Reserve Bank New York bought and sold securities in sufficient quantities to achieve an equilibrium ... ...

Targeting unborrowed reserves- the tactical goal of monetary policy. Department valuable papers The Federal Reserve Bank of New York bought and sold securities in sufficient quantities to maintain unborrowed reserves at a level consistent with the target ... ... Modern Money and Banking: A Glossary

Interest rate targeting for federal funds- the tactical goal of monetary policy. The Securities Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York bought and sold securities on open market in an amount sufficient to maintain the interest rate on the federal ... ... Modern Money and Banking: A Glossary

Mission - determination of the list of current and promising directions activities of the enterprise, the allocation of priorities in the strategy, i.e. those fundamental principles and norms of doing business that will determine the image of the organization in the future. Distinctive feature mission is that it must be completed after a certain period of time.

The duration of the mission should be foreseeable and fairly short. As practice shows, most often this period is five years. This is done so that the generation of workers present at the adoption of the mission statement could see the results of their work.

A distinction should be made between broad and narrow understanding of the mission.

In a broad sense, the mission is seen as a statement of philosophy and purpose, the meaning of the existence of the enterprise. The philosophy of the enterprise determines the values, beliefs, principles in accordance with which the enterprise intends to carry out its activities. It is the purpose that determines the activities that the enterprise intends to carry out and what type of enterprise it intends to be, the philosophy of the enterprise usually rarely changes. Although it can change, for example, with a change of ownership. As for the second part of the mission, it may vary depending on the depth of changes that may occur in the enterprise and in the environment of its operation.

In a narrow sense, the mission is a formulated statement about why or for what reason the Enterprise exists, i.e. the mission is understood as a statement that reveals the meaning of the existence of the enterprise, in which the difference is manifested this enterprise from those like him

The mission statement of the enterprise is "the first step in rethinking the business. The mission statement is an expression of the vision of your business, your company. The mission helps to achieve Clarity of purpose within the company, serves as the foundation for making all important decisions, introduces an element of obligation in achieving the goals of the enterprise, leads to understanding and supporting the company in the external environment in achieving its goals.

The hardest part of the entire planning process is the mission statement, which is the first step in building or improving a business. This must be done before the planning process as a whole is completed. Often, the mission statement is rewritten repeatedly as knowledge about competitors and other elements of the external environment changes. The mission statement functions as a communication tool to help the enterprise achieve competitive advantage. The regulation conveys the company's intentions, goals and instructions to the people involved in This business. It acts as a catalyst for the activity of everyone involved in a particular business:

I owner of the enterprise;

key management (people holding key positions in the business);

employees. We need to help them understand the goals and objectives of the enterprise and their role in achieving these goals;

suppliers. They need to be helped to understand the goals of the enterprise and the possibilities of their influence;

consumers. They should be helped to understand what a particular enterprise is focusing on and what exactly they are focusing on.

If the mission statement helps to get support from all of the above people, then it fulfills its function successfully. With this backing, a mission statement helps you gain a competitive advantage. We can say that a team with a certain strength is being created.

The special significance of the mission for the activities of the enterprise lies in the fact that the mission is the basis, the fulcrum for all planned decisions of the enterprise, the further definition of its goals and objectives. The mission creates confidence that the enterprise pursues consistent, clear, comparable goals; helps to focus all the efforts of employees in the chosen direction, unites their actions; creates understanding and support among external participants of the enterprise (shareholders, state, financial firms, etc.) and all those who are interested in its success.

The goal is the basis, axis, core around which the whole managerial activity. There are many definitions of purpose. We limit ourselves to just one.

Target is a specific state individual characteristics organizations, the achievement of which is desirable for it and the achievement of which its activities are directed.

There are several types of goals.

Distinguish long-term And short-term goals. This division is based on the time period associated with the duration of the production cycle. Long-term - goals that are expected to be achieved by the end of the production cycle. The division into short-term and long-term goals is of fundamental importance, since these goals differ in content. This difference lies in the fact that short-term goals are characterized by a much greater specification and detail in such matters as who, what and when should be performed than for long-term ones. There are situations when it becomes necessary to establish medium-term goals between long-term and short-term goals.

The objectives of the enterprise are divided into economic and non-economic. Non-economic goals are, for example, improving working conditions, shaping the image of an enterprise, etc. Economic goals are expressed in terms of economic activity and are divided into quantitative (for example, an increase in income) and qualitative (for example, the achievement of technological superiority).

For the successful functioning and development of the enterprise, the goals can be grouped into the most important groups.

Material goals (goals of achieving certain material results). These include the future product and market program of the enterprise, which is often referred to simply as the "product program". Material goals can also have a cost expression.

Material goals are achieved through the implementation of certain activities, called action goals. (Goals-actions are special events with the help of which the goals necessary for the successful functioning and development of the enterprise are achieved without attracting resources.)

Cost (monetary) goals. These include expected future financial results. These can be, for example, the value of capital, estimated and book profits, or individual components of these financial results, for example, receipts and payments, sales revenue, costs, income and expenses. These goals include the level of liquidity necessary for the existence of the enterprise and the components of liquidity (the presence working capital, receipts and payments Money). Cost goals can be characterized by absolute and relative indicators, such as annual profit and profitability.

Cost goals are realized only through the achievement of material goals and action goals.

Social Goals. These are the so-called humanitarian goals - the desired future relationships between people both at the enterprise itself and with the public outside the enterprise. Social goals determine the model of behavior in relation to personnel, individuals and social groups in the subsystems of the enterprise itself and in the external environment. Part of this behavior is enshrined in law. Social goals can be both monetary and non-monetary. For example, the income level of staff, interesting job, culture of the enterprise, identification of employees with the enterprise and its goals, image of the enterprise, protection environment and so on.

Social goals are achieved through the implementation of material, cost goals and other goals-actions.

Enterprises are currently operating in conditions of constant changes in the external and internal environment. Therefore, for them, such properties of the enterprise as flexibility and adaptability become very important, which should be considered as special goals lying on a different plane of consideration.

The enterprise must necessarily find out whether all the listed goals can be achieved directly as goal-actions, this requires the preliminary implementation of special targeted activities using resources.

From the point of view of scale, extreme goals can be distinguished.

From the point of view of the time horizon, there are goals that are achievable at a certain moment (point goals) and goals that are valid for a certain period (trajectory goals). In a competitive economy, all goals can be characterized in comparison with the goals of competing enterprises as goals that provide competitive advantages.

The content, scale and time horizon of the top-level goals are determined mainly by the interests of the top management of the enterprise. Of particular importance is their vision of the future, which was discussed above. This is a concentrated expression of the desired state of the enterprise in the future, i.e. the meaning of its existence, higher goals and level of claims. The vision is further detailed in the so-called target picture of the Enterprise, as well as in the principles of the enterprise and the principles of its management. Higher goals, vision, target picture, enterprise principles and management principles form the subject of enterprise policy. strategic organizational structure hierarchical

In addition to the above goals, which have a direct importance for the successful operation of an enterprise, it must also have higher goals.

The highest goals of the enterprise include vital, cardinal restrictions (conditions) determined by law and public opinion such as protecting and improving the environment;

application of progressive (innovative) but environmentally friendly technologies;

preservation of social and market economic system for the Competitive Economy;

ensuring a free democratic social order. The main goal of any enterprise is successful functioning and development. This requires compliance with all or most of the external conditions, which in practice means some voluntary restrictions.

Managers and owners of an enterprise must be aware that society requires them to take responsibility for planned and actually performed actions in order to trust and promote enterprises in turn.

Links between goals. In an enterprise, goals can be interconnected in different ways. There are vertical and horizontal links between goals. Vertical links between goals are presented in the form of objective subordination of goals different levels(the ratio of goals and means). A lower level goal is a means to a higher level goal. Vertical links allow you to form a hierarchy of goals in the form of a tree of goals.

The horizontal division of goals into main and additional ones is based on the subjective assessments of decision makers. Both horizontally and vertically, there may be additional links between goals, conditioned by the area of ​​making appropriate decisions. Goals can be in relation to one another in a state of complementarity, identity, neutrality, competition and contradiction. Only if the manager knows the specific decision situation, he can establish the nature of the links between the goals.

Managers must be able to transform the highest goals of the enterprise into operational subgoals-tasks for performers, on the basis of which programs (goals-actions, task complexes) are then formed. The disaggregation of goals should be carried out at all levels in accordance with the current organizational structure enterprises. The totality of the goals of the enterprise and their relationships forms the structure of the goals of the enterprise, which can be represented as a tree of goals.

The goal is the image of the desired future

What is a goal?

Let's start by analyzing the definitions:

Target - the desired result (object of aspiration). What is desired to be done.
The object of aspiration, what is necessary, it is desirable to implement. Not necessarily achievable.
Desire, aspiration, intention, what one is trying to achieve. (Wikipedia)

Target , meta, target; views, intention, end, dream, ideal, aspiration. To this end, to this end. The purpose of life, the object of the sweetest dreams. Wed Intention to achieve a goal, to set a goal, to have a goal, to pursue a goal, with a preconceived goal, with a goal (Russian Synonym Dictionary)

Target , philosophic, is an idea that a person strives to realize. The concept of C. includes a certain idea, the desire for its implementation, and the idea of ​​the means by which C. can be implemented. The concept of C. is a product of the activity of consciousness and will, a subjective a priori form of volitional motivation, but by analogy with internal, mental phenomena, the concept of C. is transferred to the external objective world; in this case, they talk about the expediency of the world order, about the occurrence of phenomena not according to the law of causality, but in accordance with the one set by the creator of Ts. (Small Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron)

Target - ideal, mental anticipation of the result of the activity and ways to achieve it with the help of certain means.
The goal is a way of integration into single system different actions of one person or actions of different people. (Dictionary of social sciences. Glossary. RU)

Conclusions:

Having become acquainted with various definitions Goals, you can notice close and related words and trace the relationship.
So, Goals are connected with desires, aspirations.
Goals are related to intention.
Goals are associated with images and ideas, "constructions" of the future.
Goals are associated with will and consciousness.
The target is a process integrator.
In general, the goal is related to the category - Meaning. The goal is what is the basis of any action and is also the result.
Key words: Desires, Intentions, Images, Will, Consciousness, Integration, Meaning.
Continuing to analyze what goals are, you intuitively feel the whole heterogeneity of the phenomenon. It's one thing, I went to the store with a specific purpose (or indefinite), another thing, I go in for sports or painting or do business or go to war.

Goals – awareness, values, bad goals, process goals.

It should be noted that the ability to set and achieve goals is purely human. According to modern scientific data, animals or plants do not have the ability to set goals. Their behavior (in the case of animals) is based on instincts and reflexes.
However, one must understand that human goals are also based on biological needs, which sometimes dictate various forms of behavior. But the biological need in itself, or rather the satisfaction of such needs, is not a goal until it becomes realized. Only by realizing our need for something, we can set a goal. The nuances of satisfying needs, however, depend entirely on socio-cultural characteristics and, of course, are associated with the “higher” goals of the individual.

Personal goals are not always clear to a person. Depending on culture and upbringing, individual life experience, we do something seemingly aimlessly or without thinking about the goals or meanings of the action.
In this case, it makes sense to talk about awareness of goals. The more we realize and understand ourselves, the better we understand our goals.
At the same time, good self-knowledge is associated with effective goal setting and reduces the likelihood of setting the so-called “bad goal”.
Bad goals are those that, taking a lot of time and effort, remain unachieved, and, despite the fact that their achievement is declared in the depths of the soul, a person feels discomfort and rejection of these goals.

The reason for the emergence of bad goals will become clearer if we think a little about values ​​as elements of a person's orientation in society.
From birth and throughout life, a person is in culture and society, and in the process of life perceives the values ​​that are encoded in culture. Based on these values, a person sets goals. But, often, goals (if we talk about more global, strategic goals) are already included in cultural education and are taken for granted: you want to grow a tree, build a house and raise a son.
The inconsistency of goals with the deep values ​​of a person leads to the phenomenon of a “bad” goal. The discrepancy can be caused by the influence of other people in personal communication, and in business. Influence can be mediated by many factors, both personal contacts and fashionable ideas and ideologies broadcast in culture. Bad goals cause stress and demotivation, take a lot of resources.

When talking about goals, it is necessarily important that the goal is not always some kind of future. In a certain sense, the goal is the elusive present.
The goal may be to have a process with certain characteristics. For example, I want to maintain good health for as long as possible. Or - I want to receive a certain income for a certain period of time (per month, for example). The goals can also be the preservation or acquisition of a certain state or quality (the goal is to become free, to be confident, calm).
It is clear that the achievement of the goal in this case will be Full time job, activity aimed at achieving the goal in this case is constant. In general, it can be said that in the case of process goals, there is a maximum goal-value correspondence. Sometimes it is impossible to immediately distinguish between goals and values; in this case, it is probably useful to think of this phenomenon as a multifaceted process with different properties, by analogy with the corpuscular-wave theory in quantum mechanics. With awareness and understanding of our own values, we greatly facilitate goal setting and the choice of alternatives in various uncertain situations.

Goals can be ranked by levels:

Operational
Tactical
Strategic

Operational goals- daily, momentary goals, which are subordinate to tactical goals and ensure the achievement of tactical goals.
Operational goals are rarely specifically set on their own; rather, they are a concretization of actions to achieve tactical goals. For example, there is a tactical goal to go to the gym and do tennis or fitness 3 times a week. Operational goals follow, prepare (buy) sports equipment, choose the optimal time for visiting, buy a subscription.

Tactical targets- goals that are set based on strategic guidelines and specify the value components of the goal. Tactical goals are, in fact, steps and tasks aimed at achieving strategic goals.

Strategic Goals- these are the most significant life goals-values ​​that subjugate and determine the life path of a person or the life path of a group or organization. In human life strategic goals are reflected in all life actions and steps, are the basis of any activity. In its final incarnation, the strategic goals of a person come into contact with such an existential question as the meaning of life. Confusion, ambiguity of strategic goals leads to ambiguity in all areas of human life and entails frustration and depression.
sometimes, in special situations, strategic goals can weaken their significance. These are acute situations. social crises, wars, social upheavals. In such cases, the significance of tactical goals associated with the speedy stabilization of the situation, survival in the biological sense, sharply increases. At the same time, strategic goals based on values ​​never cease to influence a person's entire life even during critical periods. Sometimes it is during critical periods that new values ​​and strategic goals are formed as a result of intense emotional experience.

Goal Properties

Properties of goals reflect the variability and nature of personality development. I will name the main ones.
Depth- the impact of the goal on different areas of life and the degree of this influence. This is a property of strategic goals.

Consistency– degree of interconnection and influence on other goals.
Plastic Goals and values ​​change over time. Personal values ​​are formed gradually, and, accordingly, strategic goals also undergo changes.

Target correctness- this is the consistency between strategic goals-values ​​and tactical goals. In a situation where tactical goals are not aligned with strategic value goals, the implementation of tactical goals will be difficult.

Individual nature of goals - goals are always individual. Even if the goals are called the same, each person has individual values ​​​​and individual meanings behind the goals.

The goal setting process is goal setting.

Goal-setting is a creative process, and the more creative the higher the level of goals. If at the operational and partly tactical level goal-setting is more associated with logic and analytical thinking, and often associated with decomposition, then at the strategic level it is more about creativity and synthetic thinking.

The necessary qualities and abilities for “good” goal setting are: good knowledge of yourself, your leading motives and values, will, creativity and imagination. Of course, logical and structured thinking is also of great importance. Goal setting can generally be seen as a skill that can be trained with proper practice.

The meaning of goal setting.
Goal-setting is a manifestation of the existential essence of a person, the process of active formation of reality. The process of goal-setting and further goal-achievement is, in fact, the free will and one of the needs of the individual. Conscious goal-setting is the creation of a vector in the probabilistic space of life. The very setting of the goal changes the probability of achievement and changes the probabilistic lines of other events. Goal-setting is creativity, creating an image of a new reality. Goal setting leads to an increase in energy levels, is a powerful self-motivating factor. Goal setting removes the degree of uncertainty and reduces anxiety.

Rejection of goal setting

The rejection of goal setting is expressed in the negative attitude of the individual to the idea of ​​goal setting. It is associated with many factors, for example, the vagueness of why goal-setting is actually needed and how it affects a person’s life, poor self-knowledge and the presence of conflicting tendencies, intrapersonal conflicts. In such cases, a person literally does not understand what he wants. Self-understanding, conscious goal-setting may be associated with the actualization of the conflict, in which case the awareness of values ​​and goals will be blocked by psychological defenses.
In addition to intrapersonal conflict, the rejection of goal setting can be associated with fears caused by the experience of setting and not achieving a goal, with a lack of information about one's own capabilities and resources to achieve and move towards a goal.

Goal setting methods and goal setting principles.

The key to good goal setting is knowing yourself.

Accordingly, goal setting should begin with the study and study of oneself, one's values, the relationship and mutual influences of existing goals.
This point is often overlooked or bracketed in many ways of goal-setting and further goal achievement. Often, for personal goal setting, it is recommended to use methods from management, which, in fact, have a “task character” and are not goal setting methods, but methods of critical analysis of goals. (SMART methodology for example). Such techniques can be used for tactical goal setting, but hardly make sense for a strategic one. The disadvantage of such methods is the principles on which they are based, namely, good awareness of the basic conditions and resources.

Strategic goal-setting should begin with an analysis of the values ​​and important attitudes of a person. In essence, this is a deep self-examination, which is helped by: methods of directed imagination, Socratic dialogue with a trained consultant, test methods(For example, Rokeach's CO), free discussions in the group, brainstorming.

The next stage is the key areas of human life, the analysis of development directions and significant human niches. A simple example: Family, Work, Me, etc.
Structuring the spheres of life in different ways reflects the picture of the world of a person and the nature of his values ​​and attitudes.

An analysis of the values ​​and spheres of a person should not be carried out casually, significant time should be devoted to this in work with a consultant.

It is impossible to reduce all work at this stage to planning and diagnostics. It's not just measuring something, not collecting data for analysis. Diagnosis and analysis itself provide opportunities for correction and change. In general, any psychological work is both diagnostics and formation. This property is not only psychological work with the client, but also the fundamental principle of any measurement and research (the Heisenberg principle), and this must be taken into account and understood.

At the stage of analyzing values ​​and basic areas of life, in addition to communicating with a consultant, visualizations and creating text and graphic descriptions, spatial arrangements, psychodramatic playbacks can be used - everything that will help the client to more clearly fix and realize their values ​​and the main directions of life.
The choice of methods depends on the skill of the consultant, on the working conditions (group or individual form) and on the characteristics of the client. You can’t rush, work at this stage should take a certain amount of time. Many declared values ​​can be reformulated and comprehended by a person in a new way at the end of this stage of work. The consultant should be as attentive as possible to the smallest nuances of all manifestations of the client, the more methods are used at this stage of work, the more information will be obtained for mirroring at this stage. The strategic position of the consultant in this case is the maximum assistance in understanding the client himself. The consultant is a "mirror", which reflects the inner world of the client and thus makes it more accessible for understanding. For this purpose, all the techniques and methods that I mentioned above are used. Naturally, there are certain "horizons" of work. It would be reckless to assume that within a few meetings with a client, one can create a clear, self-consistent description of strategic goals for a lifetime ahead. But the task of isolating and making more understandable certain "motives" in a person's life seems quite possible.
Subsequently, after a long time, the stage of strategic goal-setting can be repeated, but quite a lot of time must pass. It should be noted that, as a rule, the need to work with a consultant does not arise out of the blue, but as a reflection of a certain crisis in a person’s life, a developmental crisis, first of all, so the consultant’s task is to support the client, reduce uncertainty, and help overcome crisis.
The ideal result of the consultant's cooperation with the client at this stage is:

Clarification of values, leading motives in human life.
Clarification of spheres of life, leading areas in life.
Goal setting. The planning horizon is 3-5 years.

In this case, goals are guidelines. They must be specific. However, this is the fixation of a certain "vision" of the future, but not a rigid program. Therefore, not necessarily as specific as possible (as is the case with tactical targets).