Page 57 - Making Instruction Work

chap 5 3/11/97 4:49 PM Page 45

goal analysis 45

When Not to Do It

Everything called a goal is not suitable for goal analysis—
only those which focus on some desired human attribute and
lead to a description of desired human performances. Analysis
of goals such as “provide good customer service,” “be profes-
sional,” and “speak pleasantly,” deserve goal analyses because
they refer to something you want people to do and because the
analysis will result in a list of desired people performances.
Organizational goals such as “Let’s double the market share,”
or “We need to go global,” on the other hand, refer not to peo-
ple characteristics but to corporate characteristics. Goal analy-
sis in these situations is not appropriate because the results
lead not to descriptions of human performance, but rather to
descriptions of organizational performance.

How to Do It

There are five steps to the procedure. The steps are repeated
as needed. Here they are.

1. Write down the goal, using whatever words best express
your intent. Be sure your statement is described in terms
of outcomes rather than process. For example, make it
say, “Have a favorable attitude toward _________,”
rather than “Develop a favorable attitude toward.” That
will help keep you out of the trap of thinking about how
you are going to accomplish the goal before you know
what the achieved goal should look like. In other words,
it will help keep you from fussing around with bows and
arrows before you’ve constructed the target.

2. Think about what would be happening if the goal were
achieved. Think in terms of people performance. What
would people have to do or say, or refrain from doing or
saying, before you would be willing to say that they had