Editing Goal setting (section)

==Limitations and potentially harmful side effects==
Goal-setting has limitations and there is some evidence of potentially harmful side effects to both individuals and organizations from misuse of goals and in particular the use of performance/outcome goals.

=== Leader and organization goal misalignment ===
In an organization, a goal of a [[Management|manager]] may not align with the goals of the organization as a whole. In such cases, the goals of an individual may come into direct conflict with the employing organization. Without clearly aligning goals between the organization and the individual, overall performance may suffer.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

=== Unethical behavior ===
{{See also|Motivated reasoning}}
Additionally, there is evidence that suggests that goal-setting can foster [[ethics|unethical behavior]] when people do not achieve their desired goals.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Schweitzer|first1=Maurice&nbsp;E.|last2=Ordóñez|first2=Lisa|last3=Douma|first3=Bambi|date=2004-06-01|title=Goal setting as a motivator of unethical behavior|url=http://amj.aom.org/content/47/3/422.abstract|journal=[[Academy of Management Journal]]|volume=47|issue=3|pages=422–432|doi=10.2307/20159591 |issn=1948-0989|jstor=20159591|access-date=2013-01-23|quote=[...] people with unmet goals were more likely to engage in unethical behavior than people attempting to do their best. This relationship held for goals both with and without economic incentives. We also found that the relationship between goal setting and unethical behavior was particularly strong when people fell just short of reaching their goals.|archive-date=2015-10-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151009232015/http://amj.aom.org/content/47/3/422.abstract|url-status=dead|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Schweitzer et al. found empirical support for their hypotheses that specific goals, rather than "do your best" goals, would lead participants to overstate performance if their true performance fell short of the goal, with the overstatement frequency increasing as the performance-goal gap narrowed.  Niven and Healy found that a subset of the population having a relatively high tendency to morally justify behavior was more likely to engage in the kind of cheating identified by Schweitzer et al.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Niven|first1=Karen|last2=Healy|first2=Colm|date=2015-01-21|title=Susceptibility to the 'Dark Side' of Goal-Setting: Does Moral Justification Influence the Effect of Goals on Unethical Behavior?|journal=[[Journal of Business Ethics]]|volume=127|pages=115–127}}</ref>  Particular side effects associated with goal setting include a narrow focus that neglects non-goal areas, more unethical behavior, distorted risk preferences, damage to organizational culture, and reduced intrinsic motivation.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Ordóñez|first1=Lisa D.|last2=Schweitzer|first2=Maurice E.|last3=Galinsky|first3=Adam D.|last4=Bazerman|first4=Max H.|date=2009-02-01|title=Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Overprescribing Goal Setting|url=https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amp.2009.37007999|journal=Academy of Management Perspectives|volume=23|issue=1|pages=6–16|doi=10.5465/amp.2009.37007999|issn=1558-9080}}</ref> High performance goal seem particularly likely to induce unethical behaviour under certain circumstances by creating the desire to achieve the goal but also altering moral reasoning processes and in particular, moral disengagement and encourage moral motivated reasoning due to the focus on attaining the goal.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Welsh|first1=David T.|last2=Baer|first2=Michael D.|last3=Sessions|first3=Hudson|last4=Garud|first4=Niharika|date=2020|title=Motivated to disengage: The ethical consequences of goal commitment and moral disengagement in goal setting|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/job.2467|journal=Journal of Organizational Behavior|language=en|volume=41|issue=7|pages=663–677|doi=10.1002/job.2467|hdl=11343/241454|s2cid=225646227|issn=1099-1379|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

Goals may also result in overly singleminded competition within organizations if two or more people have goals that encourage competition rather than cooperation. This can include withholding information or ideas, obstructing the goal progress of others or becoming indifferent to their progress and so withdrawing completely from interaction with other organization members. A solution to some of these potential issues is to set a unifying organizational vision or superordinate goal.<ref name="Latham 2007">{{Cite book|last=Latham|first=Gary P.|title=Work motivation: history, theory, research, and practice|date=2007|publisher=Sage Publications|isbn=978-1-4416-5408-3|location=Thousand Oaks, Calif.|pages=149–150|oclc=639015669}}</ref>{{rp|180{{ndash}}181}}

=== Tunnel vision ===
Goal setting may have the drawback of inhibiting implicit learning if the required knowledge and strategic awareness are not in place: goal setting may encourage simple focus on an outcome without openness to exploration, understanding, or growth and result in lower performance than simply encouraging people to "do their best".{{R|"Latham 2007"|pp=68{{ndash}}69}} A solution to this limitation is to set ''learning'' goals as well as ''performance'' goals, so that learning is expected as part of the process of reaching goals.<ref name="GrantLearningGoals">{{cite journal |last=Grant |first=Anthony M. |title=An integrated model of goal-focused coaching: an evidence-based framework for teaching and practice |date=September 2012 |journal=International Coaching Psychology Review |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=146–165 (151) |doi=10.53841/bpsicpr.2012.7.2.146 |s2cid=255938190 |url=http://coachingconsultinginternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/An-integrated-model-of-goal-focused-coaching-Grant-ICPR-2012.pdf |quote=Learning goals (sometimes referred to as mastery goals) focus the coachee's attention on the learning associated with task mastery, rather than on the performance of the task itself. An example of a learning goal in executive or workplace coaching might be 'learn how to be the best lawyer in my area of practice'. Learning goals tend to be associated with a range of positive cognitive and emotional processes including perception of a complex task as a positive challenge rather than a threat, greater absorption in the actual task performance (Deci & Ryan, 2002), and enhanced memory and well-being (Linnenbrink, Ryan & Pintrich, 1999). Furthermore, individual performance can be enhanced in highly complex or challenging situations when team goals are primarily framed as being learning goals, and the use of team-level learning goals can foster enhanced co-operation between team members (Kristof-Brown & Stevens, 2001). One benefit of setting learning goals is that they tend to be associated with higher levels of intrinsic motivation which in turn is associated with performance (Sarrazin et al., 2002). |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129080651/http://coachingconsultinginternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/An-integrated-model-of-goal-focused-coaching-Grant-ICPR-2012.pdf |archive-date=2014-11-29 }}</ref><ref name="KeganLearningGoals">{{cite book |last1=Kegan |first1=Robert |author-link1=Robert Kegan |last2=Congleton |first2=Christina |last3=David |first3=Susan A |year=2013 |chapter=The goals behind the goals: pursuing adult development in the coaching enterprise |editor1-last=David |editor1-first=Susan A |editor2-last=Clutterbuck |editor2-first=David |editor3-last=Megginson |editor3-first=David |title=Beyond goals: effective strategies for coaching and mentoring |location=Farnham, Surrey |publisher=Gower Publishing Limited |pages=229–244 |isbn=978-1-4094-1851-1 |oclc=828416668}}</ref> The section on learning goals has more information on this effect and how to counter it. Goal setting also may impair performance in certain situations. Such situations include when an individual becomes overly focused on accomplishing a previously-set goal that they end up underperforming on current tasks.<ref>{{cite book|last=Csikszentmihalyi|first=Mihaly|url=https://archive.org/details/findingflowpsych00csik|title=Finding flow: the psychology of engagement with everyday life|publisher=Basic Books|year=1997|isbn=978-0-465-04513-6|location=New York|oclc=36315862|author-link=Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi|url-access=registration}}</ref>

=== Narrow focus ===
Goal setting theory has been criticized for being too narrow in focus to be a complete theory of work motivation as goals alone are not sufficient to address all aspects of workplace motivation. In particular, it does not address why some people choose goals they dislike or how to increase intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kehr|first=H. M.|title=Goal setting theory—Firmly entrenched, but narrow in its focus|url=https://doi.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037/mot0000132|access-date=2021-06-09|journal=Motivation Science|year=2019|volume=5|issue=2|pages=110–111|doi=10.1037/mot0000132|s2cid=191726678|url-access=subscription}}</ref>  This raises the possibility that goal setting may in turn be subsumed within a more comprehensive theory of work motivation in time.