A couple of weeks ago I wrote about goal setting and why OKRs aren’t the only game in town for founders to help get things aligned during rapid growth.

Since then I’ve been questioning myself more on this. Implicit in that issue of Build was that goals are actually valuable. But what if that assumption is faulty?

What if goals are just guesses about what we want to happen, just like many plans are works of fiction that don’t actually survive contact with reality?

I’ve since settled on the view that goals aren’t inherently bad. They help set a sense of direction.

But we do lean on them too much. We project our wildest aspirations through goals that are unrealistic in actually helping people get the right stuff done.

The heavy lifting of making something happen in business actually comes from the small, repeated actions that add up to big changes over time.

That’s where systems come in.

By systems I’m not talking about tech. I mean repeatable documented steps, rituals and habits that we use to make stuff happen.

Putting one foot in front of the other, over and over and over again, to move in the right direction.

In other words, systems represent the controllable elements of the journey you need to go on.

And that’s why they can work better than goals for many people. Because done right they give a sense of agency to people at work, rather than the vagueness of goals alone.

I’ve seen most success with this kind of “systemisation” using checklists on short cycle times – daily, weekly or monthly at the longest. Checklists keep the system steps tangible, short iterations keep up the momentum.

They’re habit forming, are more flexible than relying on goals alone and keep teams focussed on actions and immediate results – rather than long term big goals.

I’m not dismissing the value of the BHAG. That sets direction and ambition. But systems provide the tangible form of the journey to get to the goal.

Goal = the destination. Systems = the vehicles that’ll get you there.

Both matter.