Myths About Goal Setting

For a long time I have heard of the 1953 Harvard study or the 1979 Yale study on the effects of written goals of graduates on the long term performance of people. Many coaching, training and personal development providers quote one or the other as the reason why we should each have written life and performance goals.

Many often quote it as being:

There was a study done at Harvard between 1979 and 1989. Graduates of the MBA program were asked “Have you set clear written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” The results of that question were:         

•  3% had written goals and plans

• 13% had goals but not in writing

• 84% had no specific goals at all

• The 13% who had goals but not in writing were earning on average twice as much as the 84% of those who had no goals.

• The 3% who had clear, written goals were earning on average 10 times as much as the other 97% of graduates all together.

2.     There was support for the role of public commitment: those who sent their commitments to a friend accomplished significantly more.
3.     The positive effect of written goals was supported: Those who wrote their goals accomplished significantly more than those who did not write their goals.  

 10 years later Harvard interviewed the members of that class again and found:    

Or

In 1953 a team of researchers interviewed Yale’s graduating seniors, asking them whether they had written down the specific goals that they wanted to achieve in life.Twenty years later the researchers tracked down the same cohort and found that the 3% of people who had specific goals had accumulated more personal wealth than the other 97% of their classmates combined.

Really?

I was naturally intrigued by this and several years ago started researching to find the original research data.

There was no such study at Harvard or Yale!

Indeed even Yale themselves say:

 “It has been determined that no “goals study” of the Class of 1953 actually occurred. In recent years, we have received a number of requests for information on a reported study based on a survey administered to the Class of 1953 in their senior year and a follow-up study conducted ten years later. This study has been described as how one’s goals at graduation related to success and annual incomes achieved during the period.”

http://faq.library.yale.edu/recordDetail?id=7508&action=&library=yale_business&institution=Yale

It seems that there were two early “reporters” of these studies – Mark McCormack (What They Don’t Teach You in the Harvard Business School) & Brian Tracy (Goals!). Other self development gurus that have helped to perpetuate the myth include Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins and Tom Bay (Look Within or Do Without).

Run an internet search for “Yale written goals study” or “Harvard written goals study” and look at the results. You will find thousands of references – none of them true!

Interestingly enough in the December 1996 issue of Fast Company Magazine, Lawrence Tabak looked into this research and discovered that it was a myth.

http://www.fastcompany.com/27953/if-your-goal-success-dont-consult-these-gurus

So why is it still being perpetuated 15 years later?

This can only be described as a myth or urban legend among the life coaches and personal development gurus.

Jump to 2011 and the FACTS!

This research was not done by teams at Yale or Harvard, but by Gail Matthews at Dominican University. You can read her research summary here:

http://www.dominican.edu/dominicannews/study-backs-up-strategies-for-achieving-goals

This study provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness of three coaching tools:

1. The positive effect of accountability was supported: those who sent weekly progress reports to their friend accomplished significantly more.
2. There was support for the role of public commitment: those who sent their commitments to a friend accomplished significantly more.
3. The positive effect of written goals was supported: Those who wrote their goals accomplished significantly more than those who did not write their goals.  

This now means that there now is a study demonstrating that writing one’s goal enhances goal achievement.