Confusing Tasks and Goals

“You know, given that we’re in a fight for our survival, I think I spend a lot of time doing nonessential activities,” said Dave. “At least, that’s the way it appears to me. But I don’t really know because I’m assigned tasks without context. That’s exactly what happened in this game. Nobody ever told me the goal. I went through the entire project without ever knowing what we were trying to accomplish or why.”

“Was this true for anyone else?” I asked the group.

“Everyone except Al,” said Brenda. “He was the only one who knew the goal, but he didn’t tell anybody. And I can’t help thinking how ironic that is because not being properly informed is his biggest complaint back at work.”

Al immediately took exception to this, insisting that he had, in fact, told Brenda the goal. The two of them began sorting through the pile of sticky notes she had received during the game, trying to find the message that he claimed would vindicate him.

Finally, Al grabbed one of the notes.

“Here it is,” he proclaimed, waving the piece of paper about.

“Could you read us what you wrote?” I asked.

“‘Collect all symbols from C, D, and E and forward them with your symbols to me.’”

“Is that a goal or a task?” Christi asked him.

Sensing his moment of vindication about to slip from his grasp, Al maintained that this note communicated the goal of the project.

Ellen disagreed. “Finding the one symbol we all had in common was the goal of the project. Having Brenda collect

all the symbols and pass them to you was a task designed to accomplish that goal. Your message told her what to do but not why she was doing it.”

Al reluctantly conceded the point.