Episode #71
Why Goals Don't Work - with Radhika Dutt
Why Goals Don't Work (and what to do instead) This conversation centres on why traditional goal-setting methods often backfire, both for business and personal growth. Radhika Dutt , author of Radical Product Thinking , discusses why the corporate obsession with goals, targets, and OKRs can actually stifle creativity, mislead teams, and encourage short-term thinking. Drawing on examples from tech, leadership, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), and even personal decision-making, Radhika shares an alternative approach, treating business and life challenges as puzzles to be solved rather than targets to be hit. This mindset shift, she argues, leads to better team inclusion, alignment around purpose, and more sustainable results. Listeners get to hear practical frameworks for vision-setting, prioritisation, and reflective practice, plus stories aboutethical decision-making, burnout, and what it means to truly engineer change in workplaces. Leadership, psychological safety, culture change, and the costs of ignoring alignment also all get a mention, giving listeners tangible ways torethink how they work and lead. Three Key Takeaways form this Episode: A clear, detailed vision is more powerful for alignment than traditional, broad mission statements. Radhika demonstrates how specificity in a vision provides a practical anchor for decisions, unlike vague slogans thatquickly become irrelevant or forgotten (09:57). "Goals and targets as evaluation tools kill curiosity and learning." Radhika shares a personal example where hitting targets masked underlying problems and stopped people from bringing up early warning signs, showing how this mindset shuts down honesty and curiosity in teams (40:54). Reflecting on experience, not just having it, is where actual growth happens. The discussion lands on how personal and organisational development rely less on what happens to us, and more on consciously reflecting and course-correcting in line with our values andpurpose (01:11:44). Things we said we’d include in the show notes: Radical Product Thinking is Radkida’s first book, it's available wherever books are sold. The OHLA toolkit (observe, hypothesise, learn, adapt) is a downloadable resource for puzzle setting and puzzle solving, and is available for free at radicalproduct.com Notes to John by Joan Didion is the book referenced about communicating growth in relationships Follow Radhika Dutt on LinkedIn for more content As you listen to the episode, ask yourself: Where in your work or life are you sticking with targets or beliefs that no longer fit, and how might you reframe them aspuzzles to solve instead? If you value this conversation and want to help keep the Speaking of Inclusion podcast ad-free, consider treating Katie to a virtual coffee at coff.ee/speakingofinclusion. Your support helps keep these real, unfiltered conversations flowing. Speaking of Inclusion is hosted by Katie Allen. Katie is a specialist inclusion consultant and confidence coach, offering a no BS approach to DEI and helping people become more confident in important human conversations. www.KatieAllenConsulting.com Theme music is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds - "No Drama" by Alder
