Skip to main content

Managing goals adaptively

Adaptively meeting goals in a dynamic environment

Organizations want to be both reliably focused and agile at the same time. This in order to be both effective today and able to respond quickly to tomorrow's changes. Result-oriented Short Cycle Management is a proven approach that helps with this. It enables organizations to work more flexibly, adjust faster and continuously improve results in order to remain relevant. In this article we will discuss what Result Oriented Short Cycle Steering entails, why it is important, what the success factors are and in which environment it works particularly well. Enjoy the read!

What is it? mAngo

It's quite a mouthful. But every word matters.

- Result-oriented: It’s all about one thing: “achieving goals.” Not about “managing actions.” You could also call it “goal management.”

- Short: Not long! Multi-year goals and annual goals are translated into quarterly, monthly, or weekly goals. “Short” also stands for “brief meetings.” No long discussions, but 15–30-minute stand-up meetings using a visually created team management board.

- Cyclical: There is rhythm in the process. A repetitive process that is carried out efficiently and with discipline. Every week, a brief steering dialogue takes place. Some call it a weekly kickoff or team management meeting.

- Steering: The process is a steering process. It focuses on managing goals, not their execution. During this frequent but short moment, you pause your work, zoom out, look around, and make adjustments as needed.

Result-oriented Short Cyclical Steering is a management practice where goals and any necessary corrective actions are determined, reviewed, and decided upon in short, recurring cycles. This means teams regularly reflect on their work and continuously make adjustments to better align with objectives and changing circumstances. Instead of focusing solely on long-term plans, this approach emphasizes short-term goals that can be quickly adjusted.

This is the solution for what many modern teams aspire to: “anticipating” and being “proactive” to achieve results today while adapting in time for tomorrow. That’s why we also call it “Adaptive Steering,” and we use both terms interchangeably—they mean the same thing.

Result-oriented Short Cyclical Steering (or Adaptive Steering) is designed for teams. It doesn’t matter whether you are a leadership team, management team, operational team, or policy team. You don’t do it alone! And that makes it especially challenging—but also fun!

What it isn't

Short cycle managment is not pure Agile or Scrum. Nor pure Lean or Six Sigma. Nor is it a project management methodology. It is neither strategy formation nor operational management. It does have elements of several of these movements for effective, logical management at the tactical level!

It is a management method that belongs to an adaptive, agile organization. It connects operational teams with higher management in an organization. And it connects various best practices and science-based theories in a pragmatic way. With concrete, understandable language.

Oh yeah ... and it's not boring, dull or soft, either. It's about the most important thing of all - your goals of your daily work. The methodology constantly forces you to seek the productive tension in your team or organization. The weekly steering meeting is definitely not the time to “chill out”!

Why is short cycle management important?

In a world where changes occur at a rapid pace, the method offers several advantages:

  • Effectiveness and Productivity: Goals are achieved with greater ease and predictability. An organization simply becomes more effective and productive because a higher percentage of the desired (improvement) goals are actually realized.
  • Agility and Flexibility: Organizations are better equipped to quickly adapt to new information and changing market conditions. This makes them more agile than companies that stick to rigid, long-term plans.
  • Faster Decision-Making: Shorter evaluation cycles enable teams to quickly identify whether things are on track or not and make faster decisions to adjust. This significantly reduces response time, allowing organizations to react more quickly to problems or opportunities.
  • Continuous Learning and Improvement: The method fosters a culture of continuous learning. By regularly reflecting on achieved results, teams quickly discover what works and what doesn’t, enabling ongoing improvement.
  • Increased Employee Engagement: Employees are actively involved in evaluating and adjusting their work, which enhances their sense of responsibility and boosts their motivation.
  • Clarity and Focus—Forcing Priorities: As a team, you can’t do everything. Capacity and talent are limited. The method makes goals concrete in advance, helping you quickly see how much effort something requires. This forces you to make choices. The result is not only a realistic and manageable agenda but also a greater chance of success.

The Cyclical Process of Steering

Effective, results-oriented steering is achieved by approaching it as a cyclical process that you follow every week, month, quarter, and even year. This process consists of four steps:

1. Ambition: Defining Goals: It starts with setting very concrete, achievable goals. These goals should be short-term, with a maximum horizon of three months, and aligned with the long-term strategy. They are derived from the annual plan or yearly objectives.

For example: Every team member has successfully completed training XYZ (certificate obtained). Annemijn is the owner of this goal, and it must be achieved by March 31. The reason: a new client has been acquired, and to serve them in Q2, everyone must hold this certification. This step is critical for the company’s growth.

2. Performance: Taking Action and Monitoring Progress: Once the goal is set and its owner assigned, the owner and their team get to work. They execute dozens of actions to achieve the goal. However, we do not need to track these actions. The only question the team asks during the weekly steering moment is: Are you on track to achieve the goal?

Using a color status (Green, Yellow, Red, Blue), the owner makes a weekly “forecast” about whether the goal will be achieved by the agreed deadline. For example: In Week 3, Annemijn marks the goal as Yellow: There are obstacles, and not every team member will likely complete the training by March 31. It’s going to be tight.

3. Improvement: Seizing Opportunities and Solving Obstacles: When goals are not marked as Green, it’s time to put on the “improvement hat” and identify the obstacle and how to resolve it. This involves searching for root causes and selecting a concrete improvement or corrective action.

In this example, Annemijn’s dialogue with her team reveals that with some adjustments, the training can also be delivered online, enabling everyone to complete it by the deadline.

4. Capitalization: Evaluating and Securing the “Win”: The final step is to capitalize on the effort every time. This means acknowledging successes (no matter how small), valuing them, and learning from them.

This step also highlights how the achieved goal contributes to the customer, environment, or other stakeholders. It reminds everyone why the effort was made in the first place, which is both clarifying and motivating.

In this example, Annemijn proudly shares on March 31 that the entire team has completed the training, and everyone is ready to be deployed for the new client in Q2.

The Challenges of Result-Oriented Short Cyclical Steering

Is the above really that difficult? Not really… at least not on an individual level! You might already work this way. But doing this as a team is quite challenging. And implementing it across an entire organization? Even more so. The challenges arise on several levels, such as:

  1. Do we mean the same thing by the goal we want to achieve?
    Often, colleagues talk “past each other” when discussing a particular result. Misaligned interpretations of goals can lead to confusion.

  2. Agreeing on priorities and making choices is tough.
    In fact, it can be unpleasant. People tend to delay making decisions, avoiding the difficulty of choosing.

  3. People prefer talking about actions.
    They want to dive in and get started: “What are we going to do?” Focusing on outcomes rather than activities is a mindset shift.

  4. Being transparent about the status of your goals can be tricky.
    There’s often discomfort around openly sharing progress—or lack thereof. Fear of being “held accountable” can create resistance. This challenge often touches the organizational culture.

  5. Walking through the steering steps every week requires discipline.
    Consistency is key, but maintaining it week after week can feel like a burden.

  6. Celebrating successes is often undervalued.
    The mindset is: “Success? So what? Let’s move on!” Taking time to acknowledge achievements doesn’t always feel important.

  7. If every team works differently and uses different terminology, efficiency is lost.
    Inconsistent methods and language mean time is wasted discussing the process instead of focusing on work goals.

  8. Every organization and process is unique.
    Figuring out how to adapt the method for maximum effectiveness requires customization. A one-size-fits-all approach rarely works.

  9. Ultimately, it’s about behavior and leadership.
    To make this method work, resistance must be overcome. That means addressing underlying behaviors and fostering leadership that supports the process.

Key Success Factors to Make It Work

Implementing Result-Oriented Short Cyclical Steering effectively isn’t just about following steps; it’s about fostering the right mindset, processes, and practices. Here are several critical success factors:

1. Foster an Outside-In, Growth Mindset in Every Team Member: This method is about anticipating what might happen in the near future—something inherently unpredictable and uncertain. Managing this requires an open and learning mindset, with every team member thinking from the outside in.

This can be summarized as developing an "outside-in and growth mindset." Work on this for yourself and seek support from management, HR, or dedicated training programs to cultivate this approach.

2. Work From a Meaningful Ambition and Clear Direction: Adaptability without higher goals and ambitions doesn’t work—it leads to going in circles and reacting opportunistically to every change. Ensure there are overarching goals that provide purpose.

Ask yourself: “Does this make sense?” If contributing to these goals doesn’t feel meaningful, make it meaningful! Align your efforts with your passion and talents. This will help you persevere even in uncertain and challenging times.

3. Master the Art of Dialogue With Your Colleagues: A dialogue—not a debate or discussion—is key. Dialogue fosters connection, new insights, and added value, which are essential for creative and innovative responses to our rapidly changing world.

Professional dialogue is a skill you can learn. Master it to ensure your team meetings quickly get to the core of issues, driving solutions and understanding.

4. Make Your Processes (Execution) Agile as Well: Adaptive organizations can implement new ideas quickly. There’s no point in steering short-cyclically if your execution operates long-cyclically. Nothing is more demotivating than identifying a good corrective action that takes eight months to implement because processes are slow.

Continuously work on eliminating waste and making your activities more efficient.

5. Use Data for Performance Measurement and Decision-Making: Ideally, decisions are based on data and facts, ensuring objectivity and helping identify the right areas for improvement. While the desired data may not always be available in the perfect format or timing, continue investing in this capability.

Balance intuition with data to ensure well-informed, effective decisions.

6. Be Adaptive—Even With This Methodology: Result-Oriented Short Cyclical Steering is just a tool—it’s not the goal. The same applies to other methodologies like Agile, Scrum, Lean, Six Sigma, Holacracy, and so on.

These methods should serve the organization’s ambitions, not the other way around. Adapt them as needed to fit the organization’s evolving context. Focus on principles rather than rigidly adhering to rules, ensuring the method remains a means to an end, not an end in itself.

Applications of Result-Oriented Short Cyclical Steering

Result-oriented work is essential for any organization. No organization, whether profit or non-profit, public or private, commercial or supervisory, can afford to waste talent, time, or money. Across sectors, people work in teams toward goals with limited resources. At the same time, every organization faces challenges like new technologies, vocal stakeholders, demanding boards, ambitious employees, and tight budgets. Adaptive Steering is a powerful solution for any modern organization, in any industry.

That said, there are specific contexts where this approach offers exceptional value:

  1. Vague Goals and Uncertain Outcomes
    In environments dealing with complex and evolving themes that are difficult to define concretely, such as policy-making settings aiming to achieve measurable results, this methodology helps clarify goals and navigate uncertainty.

  2. Strategy Implementation
    For organizations eager to move beyond simply discussing and documenting strategies, Adaptive Steering bridges the gap between strategic plans and operational execution. It empowers teams to take ownership of their roles in delivering strategic outcomes.

  3. Multiple Stakeholders and Teams Seeking Alignment
    In settings with diverse stakeholders and competing interests—such as boards managing numerous directors, each with their own goals—prioritizing and focusing on shared outcomes can be challenging. This method fosters collaboration and collective decision-making to achieve unified results.

  4. Supporting Self-Organization and Servant Leadership
    For teams aspiring to grow in independence while their leaders shift to a more supportive, servant-leadership role, this approach provides structure. It allows teams to take on some of the “steering tasks” traditionally managed top-down, fostering a culture of shared responsibility.

  5. Managing Dynamic Processes
    In fast-moving environments where day-to-day demands risk overshadowing long-term priorities—such as marketing, sales, and communication processes—this method provides the structure to maintain focus. It handles the mix of recurring and ad-hoc activities while preserving a clear overview.

  6. Embedding Continuous Improvement
    This methodology excels in embedding a culture of continuous improvement. While many improvement projects are one-off initiatives, few manage to establish the lasting, ongoing processes necessary for sustainable success. With Result-Oriented Short Cyclical Steering, you begin with the end in mind: a continuous cycle of goal achievement and iterative improvement—integrated directly into everyday operations.

By addressing these contexts, Result-Oriented Short Cyclical Steering enables organizations to navigate complexity, foster adaptability, and achieve sustained success.

Conclusion

Result-Oriented Short Cyclical Steering offers an efficient way to remain flexible and responsive in a dynamic environment. This approach not only drives continuous improvement in results but also enhances employee engagement and motivation.

With proper implementation and focus, Result-Oriented Short Cyclical Steering can become a valuable way of working for organizations striving to excel in adaptability and preparing for any future challenge.

Result-Oriented Short Cyclical Steering is a skill. It can be learned and developed. To accelerate this process, we have developed an E-Learning program. Want to know more? Contact us!

Read more about our E-learning