{
  "title": "“Let's set an ambitious goal”: when a numerical target holds back a team that is learning",
  "url": "https://shr.swiss/blog/objectif-chiffre-tache-nouvelle-apprentissage-recherche-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2026-10-20",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://shr.swiss",
    "address": "184 route de Saint-Julien, 1228 Plan-les-Ouates, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "The benefits of specific, difficult goals are among the most robust findings in work psychology. Yet the same research shows that such goals can be detrimental when the team does not yet know how to perform the task.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Team Performance",
  "place": {
    "name": "Geneva",
    "region": "Genève",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "What the research establishes",
      "point": "Edwin Locke and Gary Latham (2002, American Psychologist) synthesise several decades of experiments: a specific, difficult goal is associated with better performance than a vague instruction such as “do your best”."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The often overlooked distinction: learning or performing",
      "point": "Ruth Kanfer and Phillip Ackerman (1989, Journal of Applied Psychology) studied the acquisition of a complex simulated air traffic control task."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Which common practices these findings challenge",
      "point": "Dawn Winters and Gary Latham (1996, Group & Organization Management) compared an outcome goal with a learning goal on a simple task and a complex task — for example, finding a specified number of strategies for completing the task."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What research on side effects adds",
      "point": "Lisa Ordóñez and her colleagues (2009, Academy of Management Perspectives) noted that narrowly defined goals can focus attention at the expense of what is not measured and encourage risk-taking."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Defensible conclusions and their limits",
      "point": "These studies are based mainly on short laboratory tasks performed individually by students."
    },
    {
      "heading": "A practical implication to test in Geneva",
      "point": "During the next change of tool or process, replace the volume target for the first few weeks with a precisely formulated learning goal: identify three different ways of handling a typical case and present them to the team."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Latham",
      "year": "2002",
      "source": "American Psychologist"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Ackerman",
      "year": "1989",
      "source": "Journal of Applied Psychology"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Latham",
      "year": "1996",
      "source": "Group & Organization Management"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Douma",
      "year": "2004",
      "source": "Academy of Management Journal"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Locke and Latham",
      "year": "2009",
      "source": "Academy of Management Perspectives"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 530,
  "image": "https://shr.swiss/img/blog-Training-Team-Performance-Geneva-objectif-chiffre-tache-nouvelle-apprentissage-recherche-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://shr.swiss/blog/objectif-chiffre-tache-nouvelle-apprentissage-recherche",
    "en": "https://shr.swiss/blog/objectif-chiffre-tache-nouvelle-apprentissage-recherche-en",
    "de": "https://shr.swiss/blog/objectif-chiffre-tache-nouvelle-apprentissage-recherche-de",
    "it": "https://shr.swiss/blog/objectif-chiffre-tache-nouvelle-apprentissage-recherche-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://shr.swiss/formation-performance-equipe-geneve",
    "city": "https://shr.swiss/formations-ville/geneve",
    "blog": "https://shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}