The Top 50 Management Dilemmas

Constantly changing goalposts

The frustration of constantly changing goalposts within a project run by an external unit is immense. As soon as you think you see a way through to a solution, or a way to get to one of your objectives, the goalposts move and you find yourself having to rethink and replan. The frustration can affect your relationships with your own team and with the external ‘owner of the goalposts’.

First, think:

• Are you someone who supports this moving project or objective?
• What are your organisation’s and your own relationships with the external agency like? Is there a history you need to understand?
• Why do the goalposts move?
• What is the quantifiable impact on you, your team and the wider organisation of constantly changing ...