Editing Goal setting (section)

===Goal–performance relationship===

Locke and colleagues (1981) examined the behavioral effects of goal-setting, concluding that 90% of laboratory and field studies involving specific and challenging goals led to higher performance than did easy or no goals.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Locke |first1=Edwin A. |last2=Shaw |first2=Karyll N. |last3=Saari |first3=Lise M. |last4=Latham |first4=Gary P. |date=1981 |title=Goal setting and task performance: 1969–1980 |journal=[[Psychological Bulletin]] |volume=90 |issue=1 |pages=125–152 |doi=10.1037/0033-2909.90.1.125}}</ref> This is because if an individual is intrinsically motivated by a goal, they will want to conquer the goal to receive internal rewards, and will be satisfied because of it.<ref name="Grant 2012 p149" />

Locke and Latham (2006) argue that it is not sufficient to urge employees to "do their best". "Doing one's best" has no external reference, which makes it useless in eliciting specific behavior. To elicit some specific form of behavior from another person, it is important that this person has a clear view of what is expected from them. A goal is thereby of vital importance because it helps an individual to focus their efforts in a specified direction. In other words, goals canalize behavior.<ref name="Locke and Latham 2006"/> However, when faced with complex tasks and directions that are difficult to specify, telling someone to "do their best", with a focus on learning, can sometimes lead to the discovery of better strategies whereby specific goals can then be set.<ref name="Locke and Latham 2006"/>{{rp|707}} A solution to this apparent contradiction where the "do your best" condition can lead to greater task performance than a high specific performance goal under certain conditions is resolved when task complexity is taken into account. Specifically, in a complex task where the prerequisite skills and knowledge to perform the task are not yet in place, the "do your best" condition can outperform the performance goal condition. If a high, specific learning goal is set instead then the goal-performance relationship is maintained and the (learning) goal setting condition outperforms the "do your best" condition.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Winters|first1=Dawn|last2=Latham|first2=Gary P.|date=1996-06-01|title=The effect of learning versus outcome goals on a simple versus a complex task|journal=Group & Organization Management|language=en|volume=21|issue=2|pages=236–250|doi=10.1177/1059601196212007|s2cid=144851262|issn=1059-6011}}</ref>