Habit 16—Obsessing over the Numbers

Achieving revenue, profit, or productivity targets at the expense of metrics of a higher calling.

Is it possible to be too focused on objectives, on numbers? Can goal obsession be a bad thing even in sales? Goal obsession presents a dilemma that many people fail to consider. On the one hand, the single-minded focus on making one’s numbers is admired, encouraged, and often specifically incentivized. It’s tough to knock someone who refuses to accept less than perfect results. On the other hand, at what cost do we hit the target? What price is acceptable in exchange for leading the sales board?

An obsession with making the numbers can lead to two significant errors in judgment: in what we want from life and in ...

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