One-minute goals: write them short enough to re-read in a minute

A goal that cannot be stated on a single page is too vague to be evaluated or acted on.

Why it works

Clear, written goals create a shared standard against which both manager and employee can measure performance — without that standard, every conversation about performance is a negotiation about reality rather than a useful evaluation. The one-minute constraint forces clarity: a goal that takes three paragraphs to describe is often actually multiple goals, or a vague aspiration. Clarity creates the psychological condition for honest feedback, because both parties can see what was agreed.

How to do it

1. Write each goal on a single sheet of paper (or a single screen): what you are trying to achieve and what good performance looks like in observable terms.
2. The employee writes the goals, in their own words, and the manager confirms — not the other way around.
3. Limit to three to five goals per person; more than that fragments attention.
4. Read the goals once a week — the "one minute" is the literal practice, not the writing.

Evidence

Goal-setting theory (Locke & Latham) is one of the most replicated findings in organizational psychology: specific, challenging goals produce higher performance than vague or "do your best" goals. One-minute goals implement the specificity component. (rct)

Goal-setting theory is robustly evidenced; Blanchard’s specific one-minute format is a practitioner prescription that implements the specificity principle, not a separately validated protocol. The brevity constraint is a useful heuristic, not a studied threshold.

Sources

• Locke & Latham (2002), Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation, American Psychologist

Common mistake

Writing goals in management jargon that sounds specific ("demonstrate leadership") but is actually evaluated subjectively — the test is whether both parties would independently agree on whether the goal was met.