Sarah Mackenzie: Why we must set our own goals

With New Year’s resolutions fading into distant memory, I wonder how many of us are still on track with those goals. When we try to understand the difference between the goals that we hit and the ones that we miss, what sets them apart? Realism, of course, plays a part. But what else?

The strength of our conviction certainly, being driven by the reason behind a goal, a purpose, a meaning, alignment with personal priorities and values. We know this is true, but why does our behaviour sometimes paint a different picture?

We often say we should provide the highest quality provision for the children, not for Ofsted, which is undeniably true. So why is it that it’s often the (actual or predicted) words of an inspector rather than that of a child that drives the pace of quality developments? Why is it that we know intrinsic motivation is more powerful than extrinsic motivation, and we wrap this into our practice with the children, yet in the month when a team competition is running, we see greater success than when everyone is motivating themselves? Why is it that we know if we set a goal ourselves, we have greater ownership, yet time and again we see a fellow team member determined to hit a goal that their manager set them over the one that they set themselves? It all goes against everything we know from a child development, people and leadership perspective.