RE: TARGET SETTING

[Gatti Luigi <Luigi.Gatti@elsag.it>]

TARGET should be or intend the goal, the reason for which we are moving
forward something.
What is this thing? 
A place? ...and then we mean talk about a physical, geographic path?
A level?...increasing some step in our career ladder? ...or social
status?...or self estimate agreement?
A number?...improving the total amount of our bank fund?...the speed of our
producing rate?...setting down the time limit of our produce and destroy
cycle?

Probably the real matter is only knowledge. 
Meaning as knowledge the mix of information, experience and capability to
squeeze them together getting out the synthesis for a forecast. More clever
knowledge we put in, more far and precise forecasting capability we get
back. 
But a part of uncertainty must remain. This gap is not the measure of our
imperfection, of our incapability to fix a perfect target to be centered
100%. Instead this gap is the space of our opportunity, the amount able to
make the difference between a result normally obtainable from normal
resources in a standard way or, other side, the possibility to invent
something new, or a new way, new organizational assess, or a new approach
able to add true value at the target.   




To do a trip I need to have an idea of the direction, of the time needed (to
set up enough feeding and other supply availability), the conditions of the
path (for adequate dressing, transport facilities or other instruments
needs). 
But why I want to go somewhere? 
Because I need to find something, to discover something. 
If  I should already have all possible information about this trip, know any
detail about all sights I'll see there (having no need to take pictures or
notices), have no hope to know knew people and have no new experience with
them, then, in this case there will be absolutely no reason and interest to
go there: I should stay and save money.

Then: the true interest is not the target toward we have to go, but the
spread of possible interesting things I could find. And the challenge I
think to find for my brain and the baggage of knowledge I've brought with me
for having strong and efficient answer capability. 

It's the unknown part of the trip (un-targettable), relied to the
discovering and creative aspects, that is fascinating me and moves me out on
that trip. 

Targets are only the road indications, the maps and the tachometers: very
important to manage my orientation, but the very important things to be
found out by my capability (and the ones which make the difference between
strong resources, strong teams against medium-low level ones) are the
un-targettable ones.

Targets are the synthesis of the average-more-a-bit standard level of
something not easily measurable that somebody thought to put in front of my
eyes, waiting for a linear, minimal, measurable continuous progress. 
But creation processes are not linear, instead they are results sometime of
a casualty, sometime the explosion of a good idea, often based on an
intuition base: a life to demonstrate their consistence and a second to fix
a way to get it out.

Targets are not to be thought away, but creativity borns from good willing,
good context, good relationships: it needs its own space and time (and
investments money too). 

Bye         

Luigi Gatti 
Planning and Process Quality
Postal Mechanization EMP Delivery dep
Elsag spa Genova Italy