Making goal conflicts visible – the new goal system tool

This article was created with the AI assistant Claude and published by Peter Hoenig.

In almost every goal system I get to see, all that is written down is what is to be achieved. The contradictions are not in it. That does not mean they are avoided – it only means they are fought out somewhere else: between departments, in the scheduling, at the end of the month, and in case of doubt by whoever currently has the least backing. The new goal system tool brings those contradictions to where they belong: onto the same sheet as the goals.

Why goal conflicts belong on the sheet

A goal conflict that has been spoken out is not a flaw in the goal system. It is a decision that is due.

An example from the built-in sample model – a craft business that wants three things at once: to raise the share of refurbishment jobs to half of turnover, to train four of its own specialists for heat pumps, and to keep overtime below ten hours a month. Each of these goals is sensible on its own. Together they produce three contradictions:

• More jobs and less overtime – with the same workforce you cannot have both.
• Training days and staffing on site – whoever goes to the training is missing from the building site.
• Quotes within five days and a better contribution margin – fast quotes cost preparation time.

As long as nobody draws these three lines, the business experiences them as friction: the foreman is unreliable, the office is too slow, people do not want to pull their weight. Once they are drawn, it turns into a single clear question – how many jobs do we actually take on? And that can be decided.

Three relationships are enough

I deliberately did not build in more types. Three are enough, and each has a different consequence:

• supports – progress on one brings the other goal closer. That is the normal case, and it needs no decision.
• requires – without this goal the other one cannot be reached. That is an order of work: anyone who does not train the heat pump specialists need not talk about the refurbishment share.
• conflicts with – more of one means less of the other. Almost always because both compete for the same time, the same money or the same people. That needs a decision: priority, balance or a changed goal.

The conflict lines are red, thicker than the others and carry a cross in the middle. If you like, you can hide all other lines and see nothing but the conflicts.

The same levels as in the 8-Level Model

The four levels are named here exactly as in the 8EM Modeller: vision, mission, strategic goals, operational goals. In the 8-Level Model they form the group “Direction”; below them follow capabilities, processes, organisation as well as tools and IT systems.

That is no coincidence but the reason this tool exists. A clarified goal system is the start of any architecture work – and once it is clear, the goals can be linked with capabilities and processes. Above all of it stands the guiding question I put to every level: Does it serve people?

How will we notice that it has been reached?

Each goal has two fields that achieve more in everyday work than any wording exercise: an indicator (“four employees with a completed additional qualification”) and a responsibility (name or role). The analysis names the goals where the indicator is missing – because a goal without an observable indicator can neither be reached nor missed.

It also names goals hanging in mid-air with no relationship at all, operational goals with no link upwards, and strategic goals for which there is no operational implementation. These are not mistakes but questions for the next conversation.

Your data stays with you

The tool transmits nothing: what you enter stays on your device, saved as a file *.zielsystem.json. Merely opening the tool stores nothing in the browser. Exports: PDF, PowerPoint, LibreOffice Impress, Visio, SVG, PNG, a record with all goals and relationships, and CSV for Excel.

It is a reflection and conversation model, not a diagnostic instrument: the tool arranges and shows connections. Which goals are right and how a conflict is decided remains your decision.

The goal system tool is free of charge: open the goal system. If you would like to bring goals, capabilities and processes in your company together, I am happy to support you with IT-supported organisational consulting – get in touch for a free initial consultation.