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Goals sit at the top of the tree. Every need, bet, and job traces back to a goal.

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What makes a good goal?

A goal is a business outcome, something that leads to sustained profit, retention, or market position. It’s not a milestone, a feature, or an activity. Good goals:
  • “Users pay, stay, and grow their accounts”
  • “AI augments the founder’s thinking”
  • “The business runs without the founder”
Bad goals:
  • “Launch the product”, that’s a milestone
  • “Build infrastructure”, that’s an activity
  • “Add billing page”. That’s a feature (it belongs lower in the tree)
A goal that could be marked done after a single event was scoped wrong. Goals persist until the business changes direction.

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Goal measure (optional)

A goal can carry a measure: the target that tells you the outcome is on track. It is often an OKR key result or a number for the quarter. Example: “Users pay, stay, and grow their accounts” (measure: 500 paying teams by the end of Q4) The measure is optional on a goal. Every bet is expected to have one, saying how you will know it paid off. Needs, jobs and tasks can’t carry a measure. Objectives change more often than outcomes do. Before you add a new goal for this quarter’s objective, run this test:
If the objective changed next quarter, would the goal underneath it have to change? If not, the objective was a measure on a goal that already existed.
When the goal survives the change, keep it and set the objective as its measure. Next quarter you update the measure and the tree stays put. When the goal would have to change with the objective, the objective is the goal.

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Goal status

Goals carry a lifecycle status that controls visibility: Later and Done goals are dimmed in the Planning Tree. This is how you manage scope without deleting strategic context.

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How many goals?

Most projects have 2–6 goals. If you have more than 6, some are probably needs disguised as goals. Ask: “Is this a business outcome, or is it something that must be true for a business outcome to succeed?” If it’s the latter, it’s a need.